Will My Name Be Shouted Out: The Play

Firstly, I didn't like how O'Connor was so judgmental of his students about their work. When the student's continued to not side with his opinions, O'Connor states that "I concluded, to be perfectly honest, that my students were stubborn, stupid, or inattentive," (111). I'm glad that eventually he learned enough about his students to revise his opinions of them and realize they have experiences that shaped their opinions that he can only barely grasp.

Secondly, I'm not sure of how effective bringing religion into a conversation with his students was. It seemed as if no one knew what he was talking about anyway, so I didn't really see the point of him even approaching the subject. There were plenty of other ways to describe how people idealize being nice to their enemies in the face of opposition without even mentioning religion. Yes, the christian faith especially focuses on being nice to others and the Commandments and all that, but he could have just stated, "People should love their enemies," or "If your enemy slaps you on one cheek you should turn the other one to hi and let him slap you again," and see what responses he received from it. They would have been extremely similar responses, and he wouldn't have had to broach the sensitive topic of religion.

Thirdly,  I really enjoyed the play the students and O'Connor created. A lot of the dialogue was very simplistic and "told" me facts about the characters rather than "showing" me, but that was because it was all taken from students' writing and they told instead of showed. Ideally, O'Connor could emphasize "showing" the next time he does a project such as this. I really enjoyed the ending of the play, when it flashes from present to past and explains people's backgrounds as well as their feelings of the event. It was emotionally compelling as well as informative about events after the fact. It was put together well and the students seemed to be very proud of their work, which is most important.