1. List 7 important examples of your character’s personal given circumstances? (7 sentences)
1- Doug has an obsession with reckless behavior and getting himself hurt.
2- Doug is in love with Kayleen.
3- Doug has confronted Kayleen's late father for mistreating her.
4- Doug has been protective of Kayleen since they met.
5- Doug has always been naive, letting his actions be controlled by his love for Kayleen.
6- Doug treats Kayleen like a moral compass, feeling lost without her.
7- Doug is very crass and straight-forward with Kayleen.
2. List 5 important aspects of the relationship between your character and the character they are speaking to?
1- Doug doesn't quite approve of Kayleen's boyfriend.
2- Doug hates Kayleen's parents.
3- Doug constantly searches for Kayleen.
4- Doug knows that Kayleen has a history of self-harm.
5- Doug doesn't tell Kayleen much about his life.
3. How do they know each other, what is their relationship, is status important, etc? Do not repeat given circumstances from above. (7 sentences)
Doug and Kayleen first met at the nurse's office when they were eight years old. Their friendship started, and continues, because they continuously get themselves hurt and are always there for each other. They seem to have a love-hate relationship mainly consisting of Kayleen putting up with Doug's antics. Doug is in love with Kayleen and Kayleen is not quite reciprocating those feelings. Doug, however, is defensive of Kayleen and vows to protect her when people treat her poorly. They come from the same background so status is not important to their relationship. However, their family backgrounds are important in forming the way they treat and protect each other.
4. What do they want from the character they are speaking to? Be specific. (3 sentences)
In this particular scene, Doug blew his eye out with a firework the night before Kayleen's father's funeral. Here, Doug wants Kayleen to leave him alone. Soon, though, he wants her to stay and keep him company.
5. Why do they want it? Cite examples from the play. (7 sentences)
At first, Doug wants Kayleen to leave because he is annoyed by her presence. He may not want her to care for him because he feels that he is supposed to care for her. Also, he is angry at her for somewhat abandoning their relationship and dating someone else. He explains that he never wanted to be alone and would much prefer to be with Kayleen. After he opens up about how he feels in that regard, he wants her to stay because he is starting to appreciate her company. He feels hopeless, bound to be blind in one eye, and wants (and needs) her there to comfort him. Then, he wants her to stay because he believes that she can heal his wounds.
6. What will happen to your character if they do not get what they want from the character they are speaking to? ( 5 sentences)
If he does not get Kayleen to stay, Doug will hurt himself even further. He will ultimately put himself in more danger. Also, if she does not stay, he will be alone in the hospital room. He would have no one to care for or about him while he is injured. He may begin to feel depressed without Kayleen.
7. What are five tactics/verbs that you character uses? ( 5 words)
1- At first, he avoids her.
2- He humors her.
3- He questions her.
4- He mocks her.
5- He annoys her.
8. Why do they use those tactics as opposed to others? example why do they threaten instead of plead? (5 sentences)
At first, Doug avoids Kayleen's presence because he wants to sit in silence rather than attack her. Then while she explains why she came, he humors her rather than ignoring her questions. He then questions her instead of explaining himself and why he got hurt. He mocks her for being dirty and drunk rather than ignoring that fact. He annoys her with questions rather than sitting in silence because he no longer wants to be alone.
9. How do you think your character sees themselves? What do they think of themselves? (10 sentences)
I think Doug sees himself as a failure. I think he is disappointed in himself for constantly searching for and relying on Kayleen. He is somewhat embarrassed that he can't move on from his love for her. He is disappointed that he can't even pretend to want to be alone, because he really does want her to stay. He thinks he is good for nothing, always getting hurt and getting into trouble. He may even think of himself as a burden to Kayleen, who must always care for him. Overall, he thinks very little of himself. He also believes that he doesn't have much of a future because he is always getting injured. He thinks that he is a delinquent and he will have to suffer for his reckless actions. He will always have to depend on Kayleen to comfort him even when he feels he does not deserve her.
10. What are they afraid of? (3 sentences)
Doug is ultimately afraid of losing Kayleen. He depends on her greatly whenever he is injured and she turns up because he feels that she has healing powers. He fears that a life without Kayleen is dark and gloomy and without purpose.
11. How do they protect themselves? (3 sentences)
Doug barely protects himself at all. He is constantly getting into harm's way without second thought. He relies on Kayleen to protect him as an adult, just as he protected her when they were children.
11. What makes them happy? (3 sentences)
Kayleen's presence ultimately makes him happy, especially in scene two. Whenever Doug is injured and Kayleen finds him somehow, he takes comfort in knowing that she is there, even if she may hate him or be bothered by him at the moment. Additionally, doing reckless things makes him happy, but only for a short while, and he really feels the consequences afterwards.
12. In what ways are you similar to your character and in what ways are you different. (10 sentences)
I think that, like Doug, I depend a lot on the people around me to get through life. I depend on my closest friends for happiness and whenever I lose them or we drift apart I find myself doing reckless things or feeling really depressed. However, I have never physically harmed myself or gotten myself into physical danger like Doug has. You could say that Doug handles his depression physically while I may handle mine more mentally. Another difference is that Doug is too blinded by the love in his life to act normally, whereas I find myself too blinded by hate to act politely or normally. Whereas Doug goes out of his way to search for Kayleen, feeling lost without her, I may go out of my way to be rude to someone if I feel that I have been hurt by them. However, Doug and I are similar in that we are both protective of our closest friends. Both Doug and I care deeply for those closest to us. Just like Doug threatened to kill the boys that treated Kayleen poorly as a teenager, I am very defensive of my best friend and would do anything for her. Like Doug, if I found out that someone had hurt my best friend, I would be extremely angry and protective.
13. Attach a photo of what your character might look like to you. I do not care about age, race, gender, for the image. Maybe it is what they are wearing? Maybe it is how they are standing? Maybe it is an actor you could imagine playing the role in a movie?
This is an image of actor Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Luke in "The Haunting of Hill House." I always imagined an adult Doug as a tall, stocky man with a beard wearing average, sometimes dirty clothes. The actor's injured, beaten face helps to imagine Doug as always hurt and wounded.