50p
BOOM Goes the Dynamite!
BOOM! To most, this word is just an onomatopoeia used to convey a resonant reverberation. Though, when many hear this sound, they ask, “Boom goes what?” It could be the deep boom of a bass drum, or the booming of the economy. This year at Brentwood, however, for the first time in school history, a select group of inquisitive, engrossed and zealous students, there is one boom: BOOM Goes the Dynamite!
Yes the English Ten Genre Unit has arrived, and with students being placed into three different seven-class sessions where they are tasked to take a short dive from a one metre springboard into the cold, icy waters of an unfamiliar literary skill or experience. This year, the options were broad. For the nostalgic, there was an option to create a time capsule of these unorthodox times. For the budding film buffs, there was an option to stop worshiping Wes Anderson for around five minutes, and enter the world of a Hollywood director and make their own trailer. Finally, for those who looked for a course that would test not only their erudition, but their spontaneity and athleticism, there was Boom Goes the Dynamite.
Now, I’m sure many of you are staring at your screens, perplexed by the vagueness of Boom Goes the Dynamite. “What is the purpose of the unit?” Well, there are many answers to that question. For some it is about capturing the essence of the beauty of sport for the viewers at home. Others believe it is focused around the pure art of play-by-play commentary. At the end of the day, however, this unit emphasizes two essential skills: semiotics and spontaneity.
This course uses one of man’s purest art forms - play-by-play sports commentary - to allow students to understand the importance of and how to not only use, but perfect, these two essential abilities. semiotics is the study of meaning or truth, and with this, one can infer or allude, from a single sign, an amount of information that could be the basis of a thesis. Spontaneity, simply put, is the art of being spontaneous, and if one can learn the crucial lessons of simply showing up and acting confident in any situation, success in the future is inevitable.
Whether you master the skills of colour commentating, and, like Ray Ferraro, are able to dissect everything about a player’s performance from one simple interview, or you leave with the simple skill of speaking confidently, Boom Goes the Dynamite serves its purpose. The inventor and mastermind behind Boom Goes the Dynamite, Mr Collis Handford, was quoted as saying, “I created Boom Goes the Dynamite because every day is game day and the goal of this class is for each student to leave the course one percent more confident in themselves.”
In this course, students are tasked with two simple - yet daunting - assignments to take to the next level. The first is to write seven snippets of spontaneity in a set of confessional writing, forcing us to be not only spontaneous, but also confident. The latter is a task much to the chagrin of every contentious individual: to film yourself playing any sport, game, or task, and commentate the events with an ever spontaneous zeal.
When asked about not only the appeal, but the experience of this unit, Davis P, Whittall ‘23 stated, “This class is not just revolutionary, it is life-changing. The way TCH presents semiotics through the lens of sports commentary is pure genius. ”
This unit and all of the fun it brings would not be possible without our best Burt Reynolds impersonator, Mr Collis Handford, and every student who got the chance to be in this unit is forever thankful for its invention. It is sure that for years to come, the Brentwood dynamite will continue to do absolutely nothing, but go BOOM!
Tommy M, Privett ‘23
Yes the English Ten Genre Unit has arrived, and with students being placed into three different seven-class sessions where they are tasked to take a short dive from a one metre springboard into the cold, icy waters of an unfamiliar literary skill or experience. This year, the options were broad. For the nostalgic, there was an option to create a time capsule of these unorthodox times. For the budding film buffs, there was an option to stop worshiping Wes Anderson for around five minutes, and enter the world of a Hollywood director and make their own trailer. Finally, for those who looked for a course that would test not only their erudition, but their spontaneity and athleticism, there was Boom Goes the Dynamite.
Now, I’m sure many of you are staring at your screens, perplexed by the vagueness of Boom Goes the Dynamite. “What is the purpose of the unit?” Well, there are many answers to that question. For some it is about capturing the essence of the beauty of sport for the viewers at home. Others believe it is focused around the pure art of play-by-play commentary. At the end of the day, however, this unit emphasizes two essential skills: semiotics and spontaneity.
This course uses one of man’s purest art forms - play-by-play sports commentary - to allow students to understand the importance of and how to not only use, but perfect, these two essential abilities. semiotics is the study of meaning or truth, and with this, one can infer or allude, from a single sign, an amount of information that could be the basis of a thesis. Spontaneity, simply put, is the art of being spontaneous, and if one can learn the crucial lessons of simply showing up and acting confident in any situation, success in the future is inevitable.
Whether you master the skills of colour commentating, and, like Ray Ferraro, are able to dissect everything about a player’s performance from one simple interview, or you leave with the simple skill of speaking confidently, Boom Goes the Dynamite serves its purpose. The inventor and mastermind behind Boom Goes the Dynamite, Mr Collis Handford, was quoted as saying, “I created Boom Goes the Dynamite because every day is game day and the goal of this class is for each student to leave the course one percent more confident in themselves.”
In this course, students are tasked with two simple - yet daunting - assignments to take to the next level. The first is to write seven snippets of spontaneity in a set of confessional writing, forcing us to be not only spontaneous, but also confident. The latter is a task much to the chagrin of every contentious individual: to film yourself playing any sport, game, or task, and commentate the events with an ever spontaneous zeal.
When asked about not only the appeal, but the experience of this unit, Davis P, Whittall ‘23 stated, “This class is not just revolutionary, it is life-changing. The way TCH presents semiotics through the lens of sports commentary is pure genius. ”
This unit and all of the fun it brings would not be possible without our best Burt Reynolds impersonator, Mr Collis Handford, and every student who got the chance to be in this unit is forever thankful for its invention. It is sure that for years to come, the Brentwood dynamite will continue to do absolutely nothing, but go BOOM!
Tommy M, Privett ‘23