FNAT 101 RECONCILIATION: IS IT POSSIBLE

1. FNAT 101 RECONCILIATION: IS IT POSSIBLE?

3. Someday Only Drunks & Children Tell the Truth is a sequel to Hayden Taylor�s Someday Annie Wabung has dreamt all her life of re-uniting with her eldest daughter, who was taken away from Annie as a new-born At 35 Gracie returns home to Otter Lake during Christmas and then leaves in an emotional storm

4. Freytag�s Triangle Summing up the route or journey of the characters in the western theatrical frame�usually we have a protagonist, the main character, and the antagonist, the character who works at cross purposes to the frustrate the desires or designs of the protagonist. Who would you say the protagonist is in this play? Whose story is this? Summing up the route or journey of the characters in the western theatrical frame�usually we have a protagonist, the main character, and the antagonist, the character who works at cross purposes to the frustrate the desires or designs of the protagonist. Who would you say the protagonist is in this play? Whose story is this?

5. Topics & Themes To say that �ODCTT is about loss� is an insufficient theme statement. Why? Making a theme statement requires a thoughtful interpretation of what the artist might be commenting on with his work. A close examination of the interaction between the characters in Drew Hayden Taylor�s play Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth, may lead to a deeper understanding of the broader discussion about authenticity, acceptance and identity. Varying degrees of authenticity of Indianess and Whiteness are all fully commented upon in the play. Janice is subjected to goaded by her sister Barb who we can safely say is full of barbs about Janice�s upbringing. Janice had no choice in the way she was raised and her subsequent gravitation to the legal profession is perhaps no surprise since law exists to protect and uphold the truth. Varying degrees of authenticity of Indianess and Whiteness are all fully commented upon in the play. Janice is subjected to goaded by her sister Barb who we can safely say is full of barbs about Janice�s upbringing. Janice had no choice in the way she was raised and her subsequent gravitation to the legal profession is perhaps no surprise since law exists to protect and uphold the truth.

6. Authenticity Markers The minutia of daily life for Janice Wirth is up for comment & subsequent assessment about what is authentically native about her identity. �She�s not as white as you thought� The trouble with Rodney is that he thinks like a white person. His heart is native but his brain needs a good tan.� �Sometimes you�re just too Indian� As we�ve heard from previous lectures about the state imposed definitions of identity and artificial constructions of the boundaries between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, the play tends to fuzz out the lines of identity. A division of body parts into what is authentically Indian and what was made in Japan permeates the text. The issue of authenticity is a contentious one that all the characters have a stake in defining. Rodney cons Barb into staying the night when the girls clearly don�t want to be in each other�s company. In scene two later in the evening, the girls are left alone while the boys go out�Barb becomes increasingly blameful while Janice responds in a measured and rational manner and refuses to rise to the bait that become hooked on Barb�s hooks. The boys arrive home with a biography of Amelia Earhart, who they claim, survived her plane crash and moved to live out her days in anonymity in Otter Lake. The Amelia Earhart story, provides a counter-point to the notion of blurred and permeable boundaries of identity. She even speaks the Annishnabe language! As we�ve heard from previous lectures about the state imposed definitions of identity and artificial constructions of the boundaries between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, the play tends to fuzz out the lines of identity. A division of body parts into what is authentically Indian and what was made in Japan permeates the text. The issue of authenticity is a contentious one that all the characters have a stake in defining. Rodney cons Barb into staying the night when the girls clearly don�t want to be in each other�s company. In scene two later in the evening, the girls are left alone while the boys go out�Barb becomes increasingly blameful while Janice responds in a measured and rational manner and refuses to rise to the bait that become hooked on Barb�s hooks. The boys arrive home with a biography of Amelia Earhart, who they claim, survived her plane crash and moved to live out her days in anonymity in Otter Lake. The Amelia Earhart story, provides a counter-point to the notion of blurred and permeable boundaries of identity. She even speaks the Annishnabe language!

7. Acceptance . Barb is full of blame verbally �barbs� Janice for: Running away at Christmas Being raised away from their home Representing the �ideal� Janice accepts Barb�s invitation to return home to pay last respects to Annie, after she finds out that Tonto is a kind of kindred spirit in that he too was adopted where Barb represents the �real� daughter for Annie where Barb represents the �real� daughter for Annie

8. Identity Janice Wirth began life as Grace Wabung Scooped & raised in a non-Native family Barb came looking for her sister Grace What is a name �Wirth�? Amelia Earhart becomes Amy Hart Janice is all the family that Barb has left Janice protests being called Grace throughout the play, until she gets drunk with Barb�indicating a recognition of her relationship with Barb and Annie Is it true that only drunks and children tell the truth?

9. When Thinned w/Alcohol, Blood is Thicker than Water If experience is any indication, alcoholics can be the biggest and best liars. What is the larger message behind the title? Is Identity an abstract concept? Re-read the play and contrast Barb�s identity with Janice�s and/or Tonto�s identity with Rodney�s.

10. Recalling Benton-Benai For many, �what is left by the trail� is really in our own bodies, in our blood memories In what ways does this play illuminate the concerns of Benton-Benai? Journey to find �what our people left by the trail� as signs to guide our future lives We need to journey to find the centre of ourselves � reason for being Lack of knowledge of �our story� diminishes us as a people In what ways does the play deconstruct or comment on the false construction of boundaries of identity? In what ways does the play deconstruct or comment on the false construction of boundaries of identity?