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Responses to presentations in English 251, March 8, 2006

All of the presentations were hilarious but I most enjoyed the Ovid group. Not only was it extremely comical but they made it fit into the life that we live. They transposed what Ovid said to make it have to deal with real life issues that college students deal with. What I thought was the most interesting was that the two narrators did not really change the ideals of the narrators in Ovid. When I was listening to it, I thought that they were just adding their own touch to it yet still basing it off Ovid. I was very surprised when they said that most of the things that were said were taken directly from the written works in Ovid. Therefore, their presentation best related to the work and had the most critical insight. I can’t believe that what people wrote about many years ago still applies to our everyday life. We think of our lives as so modern but in actuality, many aspects are from thousands of years ago. How to find girls, what to do with their birthdays, promises to them, and more have apparently been questions that men have had trouble with throughout history. This presentation defiantly reached out to people and enlightened the class for the better. Also, the humor and jokes throughout it were very creative and well played off. The two narrators did an awesome job acting and retailing the Ovid’s thoughts. How they did what they did with a straight face was incredible. Great job!

Shannon Downing

The project that kept my interest and impressed me the
most was Ovid. This group consisted of Heather, Yno,
Luke, Daniel, Dan, and Bryan. Even though it got off
to a rocky start with all the technical difficulties I
still thought that they did an outstanding job. I
really enjoyed how organized the performance was
because it went through each seperate book of OVID and
had a seperate question for each section. I really
enjoyed how the two hosts of the Love Show feed of
eachother and really made it seem like it was
unscripted. The delievery was very smooth and precise
and there were hardly any slip ups or pauses. I think
my favorite question and response was when the guy
asked the two hosts what he should do for his
girlfriend because it is her birthday. They stated
what he should do straight from the text saying that
no matter how perfect the present is they will still
want more and more. Its funny becuase that really is
how girls are and like they said during the
presentation, a mans thoughts 100 years ago are still
true today which is amazing. I thought they did a
great job keeping the skit racy and upbeat but also
keeping it appropriate for the classroom without
offending anyone. It showed that they put a lot of
work into the presentation and I believe that is the
reason that it flowed so well. I think the only thing
that may have made the presentation a little better
was if the questions were not on video but rather in
person. I believe that would have kept the attention
of the audience a little better. Other than that
small suggestion I believe that the last group did an
outstanding job!

Adam Burton

It seems that the idea of acting out the books we read has become all too common. Without some sort of twist or additional thought put into it, I feel like I'm just rereading the story I already read with no additional understanding or insight. The only one of the presentations that, I felt, did more than just act out what was already read was the group on the Aeneid. When their presentation started out they explained their story and the different themes they found throughout it. Then in their skit of the story they didn't just retell it, but related it to something that all of us went through. This was a very real concern to many people as they were graduating and moving on and a very plausible ending that could have happened in any high school around the nation. Even though this group did act out their story they took it one step further with explanations and related it to everyone in the class, which is why their presentation had the greatest effect on me.

Trevor Koritza

Out of all the student presentations on wednesday, I enjoyed the group who did the Aneid the best. First of all I really liked how they did two parts to their presentation. The first, more factual part, was very interesting in that it offered new and unique information. I had never thought to compare Virgil's works to any other works, especially the Odessey. It was intriguing to me when the group pointed out several similarities. One being that both Odesseus and Aneas visit the underworld on their journeys, how Odesseus meets his mother unexpectedly and Aneas meets Dido as well. Also, they pointed out how the gods were continuously meddling in the lives of both Odesseus and Aneas.
The second part of their presentation, the play, was very entertaining. They did a wonderful job of adapting the script to fit a more modern time. I liked how they represented Aneas as a high school boy going off to Westpoint (like Aneas had to leave to go on his journey), and Dido as a stalker-status crazy girl. It was also interesting how they used the gossip girls as the narrators of the story. This provided entertaining transitions between scenes. One of my favorite parts was when the Dido character told the Aneas character "I hope your plane crashes", because it was a play on a line from Virgil's work.
Overall every group did a wonderful job, but this presentation stuck out in my mind as one of the best. It was very well put together, organized and very entertaining.

Kim Dubovik

Here is my presentation response.

I thought all the presentations today did a good job and showed that they put effort into understanding the text. I liked the first presentation on Daphnus and Cloe because it was a skit that showed the thoughts of the characters. I liked the second presentation because they combined and analytic powerpoint presentation with a skit. I also really enjoyed the third presentation; it was hilarious.
I think if I have to choose one presentation, then I liked 'The Art of Love' the best because it was a skit that also showed that they thought about the text too. For instance, the part about two Ovids being from different themes (one talks to the guys and the other to the girls). I also think that they incorporated the rules of Ovid and his views pretty well. One example is when they talk about the birthday, we get to see his sarcasm and feelings on the subject come through. Overall, I think it showed that they put effort into this presentation and were able to have fun with the text.

Anita Crompton

Here is my presentation response.

Anita Crompton

Of the groups that presented on Wednesday, the one that I felt did the best job of portraying the content of the text most clearly and stylishly was the Daphnis and Chloe group. First off, the idea of making the presentation a mock Love Line was a great idea, since the book and the central theme of the class deals so much with love. Having the callers and the characters of Adam and Drew on the other end really helped the groups ability to tell what was happening in the story from all the characters perspectives, plus some outside commentary. The dialogue between the students presenting was meaningful with regards to the text, but also entertaining. This group definitely took advantage their freedom in coming up with the ideas for the presentation and it looked like they also had fun doing it. The incorporation of the goat-proof rope commercial really helped tie in that aspect of the story in a subtle way, and was a good intermission between the dialogues. Another great part of the presentation was how the plot developed in their skit with regards to how it developed in the book. The story unfolded clearly, and all the intricate ties between the characters could be seen developing. The story spun a web of love and other emotions, which thus created the relationships between the different characters and the drama. All of the students did a good job in portraying the characters in the story and incorporating the theme of love into their presentation. Overall, this was a very well structured and well-rounded presentation.

Chris Arntzen

I felt that all of the presentations on Wednesday were entertaining, informative, and related to the stories they were based on. I felt that the last group that presented on Ovid was the best in capturing the audience's attention. I've always been more attracted to presentations that stay away from countless PowerPoint slides that force you to read along with the presenters. The last group was able to be very entertaining and funny, but still incorporate all of the themes and aspects of the story. This was one of the most professional looking video presentations that we have had all quarter and the time that was put into the editing and taping showed this group put a lot of time into it. The cool thing about their story was that like Luke mentioned, much of what was discussed in their presentation was taken straight out of the story and they didn't have to transform it into a more modern day setting. I felt that Luke and Daniel did a great job in discussing the art of love in their specific ways and some of the remarks they said were hilarious. Overall I felt this was the best presentation of the day and enjoyed everything about it.

Michael McCaig

I felt that the group that presented Virgil's Aenied did a wonderful job. It was very informative to have the historic background of different characters and points of the story taught to us. Such as the Story of the Golden Apple and how it eventually led to the Trojan War. Their method of presenting this information to us fit well within our typically class style of English 251 with their us of historic paintings and sculptures shown on the power point. They obviously did a lot of research on many books of the Aenied, which helped me to better understand the reasons for what occurred in books 4 & 6. It was interesting to listen to them contrast love vs. duty, which resulted in Dido as the victim and Aeneas as following his call of duty. This was an interesting contrast in Greek and Roman mentality, and this group made the effects on the individual due to this contrast very apparent. The comparison of The Odyssey and The Aeneid was also made in events that occurred in Hades in both books. Their presentation on Books 4 & 6 was a good refresher for critical points the class should consider when constructing our final paper. Finally their "High School Saga" was very entertaining and a good way of connecting the feelings and themes of The Aenied to today's world.

Ashley Allison

First, congratulations to all the groups that performed. They were all very entertaining. Of the groups, the one that made the biggest impression on me was the Ovid group. They were obviously well prepared and seemingly well rehearsed. The two main speakers each did a great job of capturing the personality or tone of Ovid in the two chapters. The brash, sexually manipulative nature of Ovid was brought out very well. The extensive use of quotes throughout the presentation from the source material while managing to sound fresh and not dated was marvelous. It really showed how timeless Ovid's works really are. Switching between both video, audio, and the stage worked out very well, as did the references to popular culture. All in all I was throughly impressed by the groups unerring ability to both entertain the class and recapture the essence of Ovid.

-Graham Lasseter

The group presentation on Ovid was well-constructed and entertaining to watch. I feel they really grasped not only the key points that the author conveys, but also the points that we can relate to most as college students. For example, when they are talking about how to get a girl away from her boyfriend, besides the fact that it is hilarious, the techniques for how to do so seem to still apply. The basis psychological principles of giving attention and knowing how to impress a person are as alive today as when Ovid emphasized them in his original writing. Furthermore, the discussion relating to the importance of remembering special dates, such as birthdays, does tend to be a continuing trend. The special thought that goes into remembering seems to be a timeless theme that Ovid speaks of and the group relayed to the class. What I found most interesting is that the writing by Ovid really does answer all those questions. In ever response, no matter how comical or spiced up the answer was, they did the research and pulled references to Ovid out. They truly showed how applicable this text is to the current generation, and how there are no signs of Ovid's tactics getting old. They also included information, like Ovid, for both sexes, showing that presenting one's self as appealing can be performed by both sides. Overall, they went pretty much by the book and entertained with their witty rendition of a dating talk show.

Jeffrey Nabity

Lauren Sexton

The project that was most meaningful to me was Ovid's Art of Love. The group did an excellent job of presenting the material by combining live action with recordings. Their knowledge of the subject was presented with the direct quotes and ideas that were actually made by Ovid himself. I thought that it was interesting that they chose to represent the work with a "love line". This made it clear that the group was trying to show how Ovid's ideas are still prevalent today. Sadly many people are still having the same problems and getting the same advice as hundreds of years ago. I also thought it was interesting how the group chose to have two Ovids, one for the first reading and another for the second. They were able to effectively portray the different sides of the write, one showing his advice aimed more towards males and the other females. Overall the presentation was very entertaining while still providing insight into the subject and theme. Excellent work by all of the presenters.

The presentation that stuck with me the most and made my side ache from laughing was the Daphnis and Chloe presentation done as an episode of Love-line. The plastic bag for the 'poor goat herder' costume is hilarious. My favorite callers were Daphnis and his seducer. I was surprised with some of the language that they used, but it looked like Dr. Cushing's was going have a heart attack from laughing so hard, so I guess it's approved. I enjoyed the group's whole rendition and how they broke down each character and their situation into 'patients', but I think they might have gone into a bit more depth on the storyline and maybe the factor of innocence. The other group with the very technical power point presentation showed a bit more brain power towards the readings, but this group definitely gets the points for entertainment and creativity.

Marie Kooman

Sarah Suksiri

My favorite presentation was the one that related Ovid's Ars Armatoria to a more modern format, which (as we learned from the performance) turned out to be not much of a stretch. It's almost funny how Ovid's advice to admirers can so directly transcend hundreds of years. This main idea came across very clearly in the group's 'Love Line' skit. The flashy costumes of the two hosts added a nice touch and fit the picture of how I would imagine someone as shameless as Ovid would look. Ovid's advice is so bold at times that I wonder if people took him seriously. I would guess that they do, since his instruction so closely parallels the same subjects found in popular women's magazines, and as evidenced by the presentation, also easily answers the concerns of an average college student. Ovid addresses the modern student's questions in detail, such as, 'How do I meet girls' What do I wear' What should I do about the boyfriend' How can I get guys to notice me'' The two hosts in this presentation represented the male- or female-focused advice Ovid gave. I felt that the different voices were very humorous and effective since it gave the class a bigger picture of how there are two different, devious strategies to the same game. The various references to Ovid's culture were also clever, such as confusing 'Clymenestra' with 'Chlamydia' (which manly Ovid would probably not have concerned himself with) and taking a jab at 'Greek life' from a Roman Ovid perspective. As far as the technical side of the presentation goes, I thought the group did a great job of integrating the media into their skit and even mixing up the format of the media with 'video feed' and 'phone calls'.

Kami Castillo

The project that impressed me the most was the last presentation on Ovid’s writings, ‘The Art Of Love’. It was a good idea to make it like the modern day Love Line, because Ovid’s advice is a lot like what is offered on the show. I like that the dialog they had was exactly what we read, which makes me able to relate to the reading better. The two hosts did an excellent job of playing with Ovid’s lines to make the whole class laugh at the context of them. They both had so much charisma and portrayed Ovid wonderfully. It was creative of the group to have the two speakers be the two different voices of Ovid that offer different advice to the different genders.
I was also impressed by the special effects that the group had. The presentation was made more enjoyable to me by the visuals of the callers, and that the digital visual was not the same power point presentation that is usually given. Although there were a few technical difficulties at first, they did not distract from the presentation at all, and the group handled it very well. Including the clips of people asking for advice will remind me in the future that Ovid’s writings offer great advice to the art of love. Over all the group did a great job of conveying the material and making the whole class laugh.

My favorite presentation was Ovid's The Art of Love for several reasons.
They were funny and clever without being vulgar (although I myself failed
this in my presentation). They also closely followed the plot of the Ovid
poems. They used technology intelligently. Every group accomplished this, I
just found this one most entertaining. They did a good job of equally
representing both chapters, one and three. My favorite quote was the
reference to Chlamydia being the "itch of love". The attention to detail and
symbolism was fantastic. Very thorough. This was also meaningful to me
because I enjoyed reading the poems.

Tara Smith

The presentation that impressed me the most was the one about Ovid and the Art of Love. This presentation was both funny and very informative. It was quite funny how the lines that they used for the presentation were pretty much the same lines that were in the original story. They had a good storyline by using it as an advice show about how one should go about their love life, much like the original work did. Overall, I was quite impressed with the overall presentation and was quite entertained with all of the different comments that were offered up. All of the presentations were impressive, but this one left the best overall impression on myself, as I felt that they really delivered a successful representation of the story.

Daniel Clerou

I was highly impressed with all three groups' presentations on Wednesday. However, there is one that I believe stood out most. I really enjoyed the modern day Loveline rendition of Ovid's Art of Love. In addition to being very humorous, it depicted Ovid's Art of Love very well. I thought the division of the two Ovids was very clever as Adam Corolla and Dr. Drew was very clever. The responses to people's problems were very funny, as the actual show 'Loveline' is often like that. Dr. Drew often indirectly insults people who call in on 'Loveline,' so the Ovid version fit that role very well. It was also clever of the group to set the scene in modern-day San Luis Obispo at Cal Poly. The setting made every situation surprisingly more realistic and hilarious. Including such modern-day allusions as going to parties and 'Myspace' made it even funnier. The horrendously looking 'Mertyl' was also very humorous. The advice from Ovid was very insulting, yet appropriate at the same time. It was also interesting how the modern day presentation of Ovid in 'Loveline' made such an accurate connection to the ancient Art of Love by Ovid. The pop culture connection between Brad Pitt, Jennifer Anniston, and Angelina Jolie was also very clever and hilarious as well. The ending to the presentation carried on the humor found throughout the entire presentation. Overall, the modern day 'Loveline' rendition of Ovid's Art of Love was a very well put-together presentation which intertwined humor with historical accuracy.

Michael Watson

Of all the presentations we saw in class in quarter, I thought the third groups presentations were not as well done as the first two groups. However, they were all very funny and did make connections to the texts. Of the three that were presented, I thought the last groups presentation on Ovid using the loveline style was perfectely done, and hillarious. It was a really good idea to have the mock callers calling in to ask the questions, while the "hosts" could answer their questions with quotes straight from the book. I also liked how they had the two distinct hosts, one being more sympathetic to men and the other to women to represent the "hints" Ovid gave to both women and men in the reading. They did a really good job, and it was very funny. The only thing is there wasnt much group participation in the presentation itself beyond the two hosts, but I assume they all worked together to draft the script. Overall, well done! ! , and great use of many quotes straight from the text.

Tyler Bridges

All three presentations where done well with lots of thought and effort put into each one, yet one jumped out to me. The presentation that really stood out to me the most was Ovid and the Art of Love. Using Love Line here was an awesome idea. It tied in with what we read in class very well. About half way through the presentation I started to notice the trend that the guy in the blue was representing the third book and the women’s side, while the guy in the red represented the first book and the men’s side. That was a very good idea and the group made this work very well.
Another thing that kept me really focused on this presentation was its entertaining value. They had lots of visuals and a mix of video and live presentation that kept me interested. The actors, though reading from a script, kept me from being bored as they seemed very prepared and had lots of energy. The best part though was the humor which kept everyone laughing and kept it amused.
Finally, how they represented the stories of each character was done very well. The responses they gave were really good. I thought it was really cool how they ended everything with the response, “because that’s the art of love.” That really helped bring things together at the end of a response because it made me think back to the book.
This group had a great idea and tied it in with the material extremely well. Kept me interested and it helped me see the book a little differently, that the same ideas can be applied to today’s modern world. Great job!

Damien Micallef

Kenny Carone

The project that I liked the most was the Daphnis and Chloe presentation. They successfully expressed the feelings and problems of the different characters in the story. The advice show theme was simple and to the point, since the characters could say to the host how they were feeling, like when Daphnis called in confused about the act of love. The presentation really captured the theme of naivety since both Daphnis and Chloe call in asking for help about love. And it also showed that there are different kinds of love, like love merely for pleasure when Gnathon wishes to have Daphnis and when Lycaenion teaches Daphnis the physical act of love. It had just the right amount of humor, having an Adam Corolla type character as the co-host. Overall, it was well-prepared and entertaining.

Ted Clifton

All of the groups presenting this time were excellent. The level of excellence has risen each time groups presented calumniating with the peak level of performance we witnessed on Wednesday. However, the presentation that caught my attention and that I enjoyed the most was the Ovid group and their art of love skit. The group used excellent quotes from the literature with the tong and cheek delivery that I am sure Ovid would have been proud of. It was an inspired idea to use a two person panel and have the different panelists represent the male and the female sides of how to win the love game. The taped questions allowed the audience grew accustomed and to anticipate what to expect from the callers. There was also not as much of a chance that something would go wrong in the questions or responses to them and that allowed for the panelist to be freer in their responses with no dialogue.

I felt once more that all group;s did a great job
presenting last week. Each group had clearly put in a
lot of thought and effort for their presentations. My
favorite performance was the last group in which they
had video callers and real-life answers to the
questions brought about in Ovid's Art of Love. It
directly parelled the original work while still
relating it to people today. The two guys who were
the advice givers were hilarious while still being
true to the story. I thoroughly enjoyed every
presentation given.

Caitlin Biship

The group that presented Ovid best captured the nature of their chosen work. The Art of Love was meant to be food for the roman media worm; no one could have fit the roles of the hosts better than the two dudes from Cal Poly’s radios station, KCPR. This group not only did a great job of deriving and transposing information from text to play, but also of encompassing the very literary idea of epic poetry itself. In ancient times, poetry was a large part of mainstream media. Just as any form of media, it was used to confer information. The play itself suggests that modern media may be the contemporary substitute for epic poetry. After all, what does one hear on the radio: lyrics, information, entertainment, and propaganda. Poetry was the Roman man’s radio station.
Not only was the interpretation of Ovid well done, but also the acting. The two hosts did not falter in contrasting against each other. The effeminate media connoisseur was always placating the audience with sympathy after a nasty jibe from snide jackass to his left who was provoking gasps from the class.
Overall, though I liked the entirety of the presentations, this one was my favorite. It made a spoof out of a satire yet retained the integrity of Ovid and didn’t end up a parody - the verisimilitude of courtship was in the presentation of the play as much as the text. It was doubly satirical, doubly funny, and I found it the most entertaining out of all the presentations.

Michael Casalinuovo

The presentations on March 8th were all very interesting however the most interesting as well as most humorous of the presentations was Ovid. I really enjoyed how they took the "Love Line" setting and instead of having two different real life commentators play Adam Carrola and Dr. Drew, they gave the hosts persoanlities based upon the two books of Ovid. They obviously put loads of preparation and effort into their project and if showed. The way the fulfilled the attitudes of the books in their performance was amazing and creative and extrememly hilarious. Congratulations to all of those who performed they were all great.

Matthew Anderson

The piece that I enjoyed most was the presentation of 'Daphnis and Chloe.' By producing their own Loveline radio show, the group was able to present the information from the book in creative manner. The student playing Adam Carolla, Loveline's real host, gave answers similar to what Ovid would say. This juxtaposition of the two books gave the presentation a little bit of humor as well as another tie-in back to the class and to the other readings. I'm not sure if this was intentional but it made the presentation more fun to watch. I was able to enjoy this modern interpretation without feeling like I was being lectured to.
Professor Cushing discussed goats and how they are a foreshadowing of bad things to come. Fortunately for Daphnis and Chloe, the goats do not signal any harm. The humor that involved the goats was funny was well. I thought this group followed 'Daphnis and Chloe' well and it increased my level of understanding of the story. The 'caller' who needed help because he was raised by goats and the back to back calls that dealt with each other made kept my interest and were able to explain more of the story instead of falling back on the standard lecture format.

Joe Alsup

Jonathan M Chapman

I chose to write on the video done on the Aeneid about Dido and Aeneas. They decided to focus on Dido's passionate love for Aeneas and show maybe just how crazy she was for him. This one was most meaningful to me because I liked how they modernized it in terms of the guy having to leave to go to West Point. I like it because largely I have a military family and a lot of friends in the military so I can relate to that. I have also seen plenty of times the reaction of girlfriends or wives when their boyfriend or husband leave for the military, they are never as crazy as Dido was, but I can understand her heartbreak. As for the video that the group made, I really like how they made Dido look like an over obsessive crazy lover because from reading the story, it seems like that is the type of girl Dido would be. In the story of the Aeneid, Aeneas stays at Carthage for a while enjoying being Dido's lover until the gods make it known that he needs to continue his mission to start a new city. In the video, the gods were represented by his family tradition of going to West Point and that it is something that he has to do regardless if he wanted to or not. So finally when the Aeneas character goes off to West Point, or goes off to Italy to start his city. The Dido character is overcome with sadness and grief about the loss of her loved one so she takes her own life because she knows that he is never coming back, and the video represents this when the Aeneas character tells the Dido character that things just are not going to work out, and breaks up with her.

I thought that the group that did the Ovid love talkline did a really good job. They actually did sound like what Ovid would have said. They also did a good job of displaying the two different sides of him. For instance when he told the buy about how to look good, then the other Ovid told him, "she's expecting a man so you should dress like one." Most of what they said was basically dirrect from the text showing how transending the work is.

Chris Meade

Ryan Abernathy

The Ovid skit was my favorite presentation of all. Every group gave a great presentation, but the way in which Ovid was split into two different characters worked very well. It helped to show the huge differences between books I and III. The Ovid with advice for males represented book I while book III was covered by the second Ovid. They clearly stated that they would help men get the women they want, no matter what the situation is, while they would help women satisfy men. This demonstrated how the books gave counsel that is much more beneficial to men. Women did get some decent guidance, but it is very obvious that the books were written by a man.
Both actors conveyed the arrogance that was contained in the Ars Amatoria, mocking the situations of the confused Cal Poly students. It was amazing how the advice that they gave was almost straight out of the book, yet it seemed so casual like it was their actual feelings. Their instructions were given with such confidence and snobbish undertones that it was like I was actually listening to the real Ovid. It became easy to see why these books were so upsetting when they were written. Ovid was an asshole who made love into a game and neglected the emotional aspects to relationships. This is amusing because so much of his advice can be found in today’s magazines. Their presentation was very funny and really made me think about how I our society views the pursuit of love.

Ryan Murphy

The presentation that stood out to me was the one on Ovid and the Art of Love. There use of Love Line was very creative and fit well into the reading. The lines used by the two hosts were so close to what the reading was that I almost thought they were reading the book. Even though the words they spoke were very similar, they did an excellent job modernizing the reading by using questions from callers and excellent acting.

They especially did a good job representing the difference between Book 1 and Book 3 by having the two hosts each represent one of them. This gave a unique perspective on the reading by letting the audience hear both personalities at the same time. For me, this really clarified the differences and shinned light on the unique features of each book.

The two hosts played there parts well showing the obviously different tones in the two books. The third book was from more of a woman’s perspective which was easy to see with the advice given from the host in blue being more feminine and romantic. The first book seemed to be told from the man’s perspective which was again represented well with the host in red giving obviously male advice.

All of the presentations were done very well but this one stood out the most by not only entertaining me, but also by allowing me to see the story from a slightly different perspective giving me a greater understanding of the material.