Oral presentation by Angela Adults 5 B

Oral presentation by Luciana Adults 5 B

Oral presentation by Paula M. Adults 5 B

TIC Project Ad5 & J5me: A Unicorn in the Garden

Hi there! We are Marina Graso's students from Ad5a and J5a m. We have worked together on the same TIC Project and we'd like to share the results with you. We would be glad to receive any comments and hope you'll enjoy our work as much as we have!

Our project is based on the short story  A Unicorn in the Garden by James Thurber. You can watch one version- directed by Ben Fischinger- :

Analysis of a story: The Unicorn in the Garden

                                                           

We watched this link to acquire some tools to analyse the story

Our analysis

Parts of a Story: The Unicorn in the Garden

Setting:

Time: A sunny morning

In Spring.

Place: A house

Plot:

Rising actions: the man sees a Unicom and tells his wife about it

Conflict: she doesn’t believes him

Climax: there's a phone call

Falling action: the professionals go the house

Denouement: They believe him and take her to a mental institution

Conflict:

External: man vs. women

Characters:

Main: husband and wife

Supporting: doctor, policeman, unicorn 

Point of view:

Third person

Possible interpretations. Our view of the story "A unicorn in the garden"

Possible interpretations. Our view

(1) The story is about a man who has hallucinations and tries to tell his wife about the things he sees. But his wife gets impatient and warns him to stop telling unreal stories or she will lock him up in a medical institution.

The man continues, so his wife desperately calls a medical institution. 

However, when the doctors arrive they find the woman is very excited and the man very is quiet and coherent, so they think the crazy one is the woman and take her to the institution instead of her husband.

(2) This is the story of a man who plans to lock up his wife in a mental institution. So, he invents a lie to pretend he is nuts, and when his wife calls a doctor he denies everything and he makes the doctor and the policeman believe that the woman is crazy. Finally, they take her with them and his plan is a success.

Dialogues that could have been included in the story: "A unicorn in the garden"

Dialogues that could have been included in the story. Our versions, once more…

A. (Dialogue between Husband & Wife in front of the policeman and the doctor)

Husband: A unicorn is a mythical beast.

Wife: I'm not crazy! you're the crazy one!!  I was sleeping when you woke me  

             up and told me that crazy story!!

Husband: Honey, I haven't been in the bedroom since early this morning. 

                     Maybe you dreamed about it.

Wife: What are you saying!? You woke me up twice today!! You said that 

       the unicorn had eaten a flower!!

Husband: Darling, that's impossible! Did you take your pills last night?

Wife: What pills? I don't take pills any more. You are the one who

            takes pills!

Husband: oh, that's why; you have forgotten to take the pills...

(The doctor and the policeman take the woman inside the ambulance and put her a straitjacket. She shouts. He smiles)           (by Jerónimo & Ezequiel)

Another one...

B. Wife: Doctor, I think my husband is crazy because this morning he told me that he had seen a little unicorn in the garden and I´m really worried about that.

Doctor: Has this ever happened before?

Wife: No, never, it´s the first time.

Policeman: I suppose that something strange is happening here, I think the doctor needs to talk with your husband.

Wife: Honey, can you come here please? There are some friends here who want

to ask you some questions.

Husband: What´s going on? Who are these people?

Doctor: Your wife told us that you had see an unicorn this morning, is it that

                  true?

Policeman: Did you take any drugs or alcohol this morning?

Husband: Of course not, I´m a healthy person, maybe you have to ask to my wife. Every morning she adds some vodka to her the coffee.

Wife: Of course not, he is lying; tell the doctor what you told me before.

Policeman: I can smell your breath, you have to come with me to the police

station.

Doctor: We need to run some psychiatrist tests.      (Lilian, Alfredo & Julián)

Dialogues we created with prompts from the videoclip

We connected the topic to different materials. Among them, we worked with Everybody Hurts by R.E.M

These are some of the dialogues we created with promps from the videoclip (marked here in bold type).  

1) At the cinema:

-She: Look at that girl, she´s using her mobile phone and we’re in the middle of the film. Maybe she doesn´t know that silence is golden.

-He: What do you want me to do? There´s nothing I can do.

-She: You have to do something!

-He: If I had a gun, I would kill that girl.

-She: Oh no, you´re crazy! I was thinking of throwing something, nobody can see you. What can I throw?

-He: I have no idea.

-She: I´ll throw her some popcorn.

(The girl throws the popcorn and it hits the woman´s head. The woman stands up and looks at the couple, she gets angry and shouts: “I´ll talk when I want to, I´m going to complain with the manager”. Finally, she’s gone.   (by Julián and Alfredo)

2) There's nothing I can do, I need to make some changes in my life but I'm feeling depressed. All my friends have given me advice but I have no idea, How am I gonna do this?
She's gone and nobody can bring her back. At this moment, I think that silence is golden, I don't want to talk with anyone, even my friends.
If I had a gun I would kill her and her new boyfriend when nobody can see me…  (by Matías & Sergio)

Writing based on the lyrics of Peter Gabriel’s song

                     We also did some writing based on the lyrics of Peter Gabriel’s song 

 

                 Mary's boyfriend left her on a Friday night and her friend told

                 her: "don't give up! you have friends, we can go out

                 without boyfriends". She answered: "but I love him so

                 much and I lost him forever!!!". (Leila M - Manuela R).

                 

                 

                 Her friend said: "but you still have us, there's a party

                 tonight at John's house, let's go!

                Everything is going to be alright!"   (Leila Mongi - Manuela Rivero).

Friend 1:- Hey, you look sad. What's happened to you?     

Friend 2:- I'm very sad because my granfather died yersterday night.                          

Friend 1:- Ohh! So terrible, don't worry, you still have us!    

Friend 2:- Thanks for staying with me!

(Camila Otegui, Julia Consolo, Victoria Eguren, Ailen Salvarreyes)

 

Son:- Dad! I got bad marks in the maths exam

 Dad:- I'm disappointed of you, I know you can make it good.

 Son:- Well, I'm not the only one.

 Dad:- I know you're not the only one, and I don't care about your friend!! You must study for the exams.

 Son:- OK Dad, you're right. For my next exam I'm going to study hard!

 (Camila, Julia, Victoria, Ailen)

Peter: I never thought I could fail, but I lost the ball.

Paul: Don’t worry, we know you can make it good. The next match you can try to play again and it’s going to be alright. Don’t give up.

Peter: But in the next match my team won’t want me there.

Paul: Don’t worry, you still have us, we’re proud of who you are and your team too.

(Agustina Arcumano,  Lucía Russo Herrera)

 

- SON: Mum, I have failed three subjects, I want to leave school.

-MUM: Don´t worry, don´t give up. You are not the only one.

-SON: I´m stupid.

-MUM: No, son, your father and I are proud of who you are.

 by Simón Hnatiuk, Chiara Basso y Natalia Rodriguez

                          Jorge broke up with his girlfriend. he was crying and

                          his friends want to talk about what´s happened to him.

                          -JORGE: Life sucks
                          -FRIEND: Everything is going to be alright

                            (Simón, Chiara y Natalia)

                 

Ad5- J5me Writing Competition ' I have a stone in my mouth'

       Writing competition!

                                                   A STONE IN MY MOUTH

Yesterday I went to my cousin’s house. I was alone in her bedroom waiting for her, when I heard voices in the room next to the bedroom. My aunt was having an argument with a man who wasn’t my uncle (I know my uncle’s voice). A few minutes later I went to the bathroom and the door of this room was opened. I could see my aunt kissing the man, and she saw me! She asked me not to say anything, and I accepted. Now when I see my uncle, silence is a stone in my mouth. (by Manuela)

The truth is that silence is a stone in my mouth. Why? Because yesterday I saved a friend when my school's head teacher was going to kick him out for setting a rubbish bin on fire.

The head teacher asked me if I knew who was responsible, and I said yes, but that I wouldn't say who he was. They told me that they were going to punish me, and nobody in our class would go on an excursion during this year. We were sad, but our friend was more important. (by Bautista) 

 I would like to say something but I can't, so I will write this top secret on this piece of paper. I have a friend called Alexandra and she is in love with a guy but before this, she had another boyfriend called Mariano. She was madly in love with him, so she got a tattoo with his name on her arm. 
The problem is that if her new boyfriend learns about this tattoo, she will be in big trouble. There is nothing she can do about it, so I think she should tell the story about her ex to her new boyfriend. Until this happens, silence is a stone in my mouth.   (by Natalia)

Sarah is my best friend but John is too! The other day I saw him with another girl and I don't know that to do. I must tell Sarah but John will get angry with me, and the same is going to happen if I tell John. Silence is a stone in my mouth. (by Guadalupe)

One day I was sitting in the garden of my grandmother's house, when she told me that she had a chest with letters written by her father, and a necklace that her grandmother had given her when she was a child. She asked me for help to bury the chest and she asked me to keep this secret. Silence is a stone in my mouth. (by Camila)

"Silence is a stone in my mouth" I'm really in love with this boy. His name is John and we go the same maths class. The problem is that he doesn't know that I exist. I don't know what to do, because I'm really terrified that he wouldn't feel the same.

 My friends told me:- Go!!! Tell him. You don't know the answer. But it's not simple, I'm very shy.

 I guess, probably one day I'll tell him the truth, but not today.   (by Victoria)

Sir Television

There is a Stone in my mouth. I am sitting on a sofa, my eyes are pointing directly to the box. And I blink, and then I understand something is wrong. The same speech always; laugher, and no one cares about it, no one does anything to stop it. It’s because they don´t understand, they even like how it feels (being stupid). The secret is so big, so dark to make it public. So what do I have to do sir? Do I have to be a hero? Do I have to be a partner of the crime? I don’t understand.

There is a stone in my mouth. I blink again and I wonder, I really do sir, is there anyone who knows that we belong to the same sick puzzle created by the same people who watch the show? I know that is everything about control but, how do you do it? You know they don’t have good memory so you´ve taken advantage of them and that’s why they don’t care about it, it is because they don’t remember anything. Am I wrong?

There is a stone in my mouth, so I´ve decided to throw it away, to scream it if they let me. Crimes need to be confessed or that was what I thought (yes, I was about to turn myself into a hero).  So I go to the police station to talk to an officer and tell him what I know, what I’ve seen around all these years of my life. Crimes need to be confessed! I do it, I tell the truth, I really do but you’re not going to believe what happens. He points at me in the head with his gun; I am threatened by his bullets to shut me up for the rest of my life. And then I notice(d)… people have already taken their decision; that is the reason. They are all partners of the box.

I blink. There is a stone in my mouth…  (by Sergio)

I’m “between the devil and the blue sea”, that is how I’ve been feeling since I saw my friend Joey in a romantic situation with the girlfriend of another friend of mine (Chandler). I went to a bar with my office’s mates and it was there where I saw them. Fortunately it was full of people and they didn´t see me. It´s difficult for me because of my friendship with both of them. Doing or not doing something I will harm one of them. I can talk to Joey and tell him  to stop seeing the  Chandler´s girlfriend but that doesn´t  change. And if I talk with Chandler to tell him the truth  maybe it he can break the  Joe´s relationship with his  present couple. Apart  from that I have to consider how  to continue my friendship with them. I wish I  had not gone to the bar that night. Everything would be easier. I wonder if I take any decision will I feel better?  Maybe the less committed decision is don’t do anything (like “nothing has happened here, I haven’t seen anything”). In this way no one can blame me, only my sense of guilty will punish me and of course the feeling of having a stone in mouth for the rest of my days. (by Alfredo)

A friend send me a letter today. She wrote me to tell me one of her secrets, and this is what she wrote about it:

 "I love a guy, but he loves another girl. I met her many years ago and we never talked, but this year we fought a lot about diferent things. Three months ago this boy appeared and I know he really likes this girl, so I don't know if I have to tell him about my feelings. You know this guy and I think that you can talk with him about me. Can you help me?"

I' ve decide that I'm not going to help her with him, because I love him too, but I'm not going to tell her, because silence is a stone in my mouth.   (by Chiara)

I was on my way home when I saw a girl ,she was tall, blonde and very skinny I was watching her and I could see a boy who was going towards her, I thought he was her boyfriend but the situation  started to be awkward  when he took her from her arm and made her walk to a car. I tried to follow them but the man saw me , he screamed to me : “Go ,she’s fine,she doesn’t need your help” while the girl ,with tears in her eyes told with her lips “HELP”. I decided to go to a further place but I could still see them from there .I saw the boy taking the girl into a car; I tried to follow them but the car was too fast for me . I run as I had never done before and the car stopped. The guy opened the door and made a sign to me ,when I approached them another guy was behind me and said “If you don’t go now you will have a bad ending…like her” the guy behind me left and I was in shock ;Lot of questions were in my mind. I came back home and my mom was there I hugged her very strongly and I went to my room.
I decided to remain silent until today silence is a stone in my mouth.      (by Agustina)

“Silence was stolen on my mouth” I thought. I need to tell the truth. That’s why I’m writing this. Last Sunday I was smoking in the park as every Sunday night. I was feeding birds, when suddenly I heard a shot. The birds flew, I couldn’t see very well. Afraid, I ran to my house, very confused and  decided to sleep.

The following morning, on my bed there was a letter with blood: “You didn’t see anything or you are dead!” I started to shout. In the worst moment my brother appeared and said: “don’t cry girl, happy innocents’ day”. (by Pedro)

Jane was talking with Claire on the pone. Claire was so happy because she had seen John about one hour before the call, while Jane was thinking about what had happened last week in the new pub “Zebra”.

Suddenly Jane started to remember John ( Claire´s boyfriend) kissing and dancing with another girl, and she began to feel concerned about Claire´s relationship with him. She was her best friend and she had the obligation to tell her what she had seen. But John was her friend too, and for that reason, she really didn´t know what to do. Jane remembered what John had said: “Please, don´t tell anyone, my relationship with Claire depends on you. Silence!” And what she had said too, that she had a stone in her mouth and that she wouldn´t say anything. But now things had changed and Jane didn´t fell so well with her decision...  (by Leila) 

                    AND THE WINNER IS…. AILÉN, from J5me. Congrats!

I’m not the kind of girl that is always saying what she thinks, that is always standing up for her rights and beliefs. I tend to keep my emotions and thoughts in silence, expecting for the day when they will finally come out. I’m not afraid of being judged, and I’m definitely not afraid of disappointing people. I just think that my ideas are much greater inside my mind and I also believe that sometimes people are just not ready for knowing them.

My worst fear is that this magic moment may never come, I can’t help having this dream at night, it always happens there, during my dream, that when the time of speaking arrives, “Silence is stone in my mouth”. (by Ailén)