Confession Project Review #3

My favorite confession today was Jon's performance. I thought it was clever that he used an opening confession (his frequent tendency to lie about unnecessary things) as a catalyst for further confessions. By giving himself a 3 minute window to only be honest, he made his piece interactive and allowed the class to aid him in revealing even more secrets about himself. He had no idea what we were going to ask him, and since he had already told us he was forcing himself to be truthful, he had to stand in front of everyone and respond the best he could to personal questions. He claimed to be an awkward person, but I thought he handled our questions well and may have even discovered something about himself through the process. I don't think the performance would have been stronger if it was longer like he had planned--the limited time frame forced us to ask only deep and interesting things rather than tip toeing around and trying to break any ice first.

I completely respect Ashley's letter and her performance because I could tell that her tears and emotion were genuine. It was very raw, and her letter was well written. However, I wish she had made her audience a little clearer so that while hearing the letter I could have made the religious connection. The whole time I was too busy trying to guess who she was talking to rather than actually listening to what she was saying. I thought about a possible boyfriend or parent instead of linking each powerful sentence to her true audience, God. I don't think she should have written something explicit like "Dear God," but maybe some type of symbolism could have made the allusion more artistic/clear from the beginning.