I know about Actors Studio from reading biographies about Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Al Pacino. In the fifties, Marilyn’s greatest fame as an actor became her greatest disappointment. She was so beautiful that she couldn’t land serious roles. At a certain point, Marilyn left Hollywood to spend a year training with the world's leading experts in stage and screen at the Actors Studio in New York. Her goal was to take her acting to the next level. Method actors dig down deep inside of themselves for a memory or an experience that will help them recreate the true emotions of their character they are playing. The Actors Studio has its origins in early 20th century Russia. A very serious student and lover of the theater named Konstantin Stanislavski came up with the system of Method Acting. It was about KEEPING IT REAL. Stanislavski was opposed to the study of traditional acting technique. Instead he encouraged his students to look inward – not only to UNDERSTAND the role, but to FEEL the part. Method Acting often requires complete immersion in a role. That means an actor does whatever he or she can to “wear” the part - to put him/herself into the shoes of the character. To prepare for his role as Bob Dylan, Timothée Chalamet learned how to play the guitar and harmonica. On the set, he wouldn.’t respond to anyone unless they addressed him as “Bob.”
This Summer 2025, I plan to read a novel with my classes I recently plucked off my shelf here in Mexicali. It's called Paradise Travel, and it is written by Jorge Franco. I'm not giving any spoiler alerts, but it focuses upon the American Dream - two teen-age lovers, Marlon and Reina from Medellín, Colombia, who successfully make the long, ardous journey to New York City but learn tough, life-changing lessons along the way. I like this novel, for the CHANGE in characters that happens right before our eyes. Both Marlon and Reina become Hard and Knowing. They are entirely different people at the end of the novel. Did their journey to the U.S. change the way they saw each other? How did their struggle to fit in, to find their place, to define their identities...Affect Their Love?
To make things interesting, I will ask my students to COMBINE their READING with their RESEARCH of novel's setting, NEW YORK CITY
- Our classes meet for three hours per day, four days per week, six weeks total - We have a lot of standards to cover.
- I plan to devote a portion of our Wenesdays for my students to collaborate on a New York City Classroom Scrapbook
- Each student will be required to research a NYC person, place, idea to share with the rest of us - I just may go with the Actors Studio (see above.)
- This means SIX days, SIX different assignments. - I will expect that each assignment will be submitted on Canvas before the end of the day.
- I will emphasize, CREATIVITY, ORIGINALITY, and INTEGRITY in their work.
- Students will have the FREEDOM to choose their own NYC TOPICS - I shouldn't have to PUSH them - They should take PRIDE in their own work.
- Our Final NYC Class Scrapbook will DEEPEN our understanding of the novel - The weekly assignments will BOOST student grades - EVERYONE WINS!
Jay's Tips - NYCStarter Set - GO FOR WHAT YOU KNOW - Choose what YOU want to WRITE about!
Jay's Practice Picks:
- Before you get started, I encourage to brainstorm a list of 3-4 ideas. Like this:
White Castle is a restaurant chain known for its "sliders," small, square hamburgers, and its distinctive white castle-shaped buildings. They are also known for offering a variety of menu items beyond burgers, including chicken, fish, and plant-based sliders. |
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We begin our first Wednesday with a NYC Breakout assignment. I will ask my students to share their NYC ideas with the rest of us on Padlet.
My rules are FEW. Students' opportunities to express thensekves are MANY. I've created a grid to brainstorm and classify their ideas from the beginning.
Jay's Note:
- I haven't been to New York City in like 40 years. I know about as much about the City as my students do.
- But, here in Mexicali, I have a lot of BOOKS on my SHELVES. I have a lot of ideas to choose from
- They may think they KNOW NOTHING about NYC, but THAT'S THE POINT - Each Wednesday, we will collaborate on our Padlet to RAISE our NYC KNOWLEDGE
Below, I practice my Actors Studio contribution to our Final NYC Scrapbook. Over the next six weeks, I plan to re-read our classroom novel Paradise Travel. The MORE I know about NYC, the MOREI will get out of it.
It's been three days since the accident and I still can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I can hear the sound of the train approaching us, getting closer and louder, the wheels scraping on the metal train tracks, the pessimistic look of despair on their faces, and worst of all, the piercing scream that still haunts my ears
My mother, the only parent I know, is both a mom and a dad to me. Both of my parents would work, but even then my father would demand for my mothers paychecks. He'd use that money to get totally wasted, and it went on for a while like this....
In the book “Motorcycle Ride on the Sea of Tranquility” the most valuable part is when Chuy offered a ride to Yoli on his motorcycle through many places of the San Diego city. no. Yoli thought she hadn’t heard him right...
On November, 1993 both my father and brother started the Richard McGee Correctional Basic Correctional Academy....
For America in the novel The Tortilla Curtain, Being married to Candido is like carrying a backpack full of bricks all day long....
My mother had struggled her whole life to make us happy. Being a single mother of two with two jobs was almost impossible yet it was her daily routine....
My father's addiction has had significant effects in my life. My father's alcohol abuse has made me realize what I want in my life and what I don’t want....
After the bell had rung, I quickly got to my seat, of course being tardy was probably a bad first impression because as soon as I picked a desk to sit at my teacher was glaring at me. He then began to yell at me saying how it was an essential to be on time to his class. This was my first encounter with my economics teacher and I already knew it was going to be a long year. Little did I know that Jack had a specific purpose in my life and although he was scary to me at first, he soon became my strongest adult in my life. As the years went by, I got to know Mr. Little and we became the greatest of friends. Once Jack Little passed away, I had a different perspective on the little amount of time we all have to live...
After living three years in this country, it was important for me to realize that I needed to go to school to learn English. I was feeling like I was illiterate and deaf. When my husband was in work I was afraid to answer the phone, or afraid to go outside. I remember the day when I had my first daughter, I was in pain in the hospital and my new born daughter was crying; the hospital was cold, with a pale color on the walls, and its smell was like alcohol. There were nurses walking on the long and bright hallway. You can hear the nurses talking morning and night. I couldn’t express myself and talk for my daughter that was crying...
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