Darcy's Plan
Completion requirements
Diploma Exam Preparation - Visual Reflection
Darcy's Plan
Consider
Consider Darcy’s strategy for a
creative response to the visuals.
Darcy: Like I said before, when I think of a creative response to the visuals, I think of telling a story. So, where to start? I look at the “5 Ws and 1H”: Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? when I plan my response.
Who will be my narrator and/or protagonist? Who else do I need in my story?
Darcy: Like I said before, when I think of a creative response to the visuals, I think of telling a story. So, where to start? I look at the “5 Ws and 1H”: Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? when I plan my response.
Who will be my narrator and/or protagonist? Who else do I need in my story?
In the top visual, there is a lifeguard in yellow. He’s able to see most of what’s happening there. The descriptions that go with the photographs say that the park is in Mumbai, India. I know that this country has a lot of poor people. I think the lifeguard is an outsider, removed from the fun. He’s probably poor himself, supporting his own family as well as his mother, since his father passed away. His mother is very poor, not even water in her tiny house/hut, and he gives whatever he can to her.
What is going to happen?
Knowing his mother is probably worried about him, he will tell her how he has found a job with good pay. Not a lot of danger in a wading pool. He can talk about the people he sees. Then he realizes that all the lavishness might make her feel bad about her own situation (my way of recognizing the bottom picture), so he decides to focus on the positives about having little but being grateful for what he has.
©Thinkstock
Where are the characters situated?
The protagonist is in Mumbai, India. I think his mom will be in his childhood home in Calcutta. There is so much poverty there. It’s not the same as Ethiopia, but the idea of having suffered to really appreciate what a person has is a universal idea.
When does the action take place?
The top photo seems modern, like it could have been taken today. I would guess it is summer time, although I know it’s pretty hot in both countries, compared to Canada, that’s for sure!
Why does the story happen?
The protagonist has been away from home for some time, looking for work. Now that he has a job as a lifeguard, he is finally able to send money home to his mother. He wants to provide her with comfort and security, two things that people need.
How do I tell the story?
I always leave the “How” to the end, and I base my choice of format on my 5Ws. In this case, it makes sense that the protagonist sends his mother a note with the money he is sending. At first, I thought he would send her money online, but then I thought she probably wouldn’t have a computer. He’s going to have to go old school, writing a letter by hand and mailing the money. He might send her a picture of his first day at work . . . oh look, there’s a picture right here!