AMIGO BROTHERS PLAYED BY NEDUVELI BOYS, 2016-17

This video is the dramatized version of the story ‘Amigo Brothers’ by Piri Thomas, prescribed in the SCERT Standard XII English textbook. The boys of Neduveli HSS, Thiruvananthapuram scripted, played, shot the video, edited and directed under the supervision of their teacher Sajeena Shukkoor.
For music credits to Sethurama Iyer theme music.

A Presentation video

AMIGO BROTHERS

Title: ‘AMIGO‘ Spanish word means friend. So it means friends like brothers, It is taken from “Stories from El Barrio’ (1978) by Piri Thomas.

Writer: Piri Thomas (1928- 2011), spent 7 years in jail due to some criminal activities – reflected on the teachings of his parents – started dreaming positive – decided to use his street and prison experience to help the youth to avoid such a life of crime – travelled all over the world, giving lectures and workshops – wrote stories and poems – For him, writing became a tool to discover who he really was and to portray his Puerto Rican and African-American heritage – Thomas’ writings are all set where he grew up, in New York City. He writes about neighbourhoods that are heavily populated with Puerto Ricans and African Americans, such as Spanish Harlem and the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Thomas’ writing celebrates the strength and determination of the people in his community. – Best seller “Down These Mean Streets”, a memoir.

Theme: Do we really need a wall?

Shouldn’t we dare to go beyond the boundaries?

Characters: Antonio Criux & Felix Vargas – Common points: –two guys of 17 years old – like brothers – live in the same place, from lower East Side of Manhattan.

Physical features: Two entirely different

Antonio:- Fair, Lean, and lanky (thin and bony)

Felix:- Dark, short and Husky (big and strong)

Plot: A story of two friends who felt like brothers, Antonio Criux & Felix Vargas – best boxers of their club but only one can represent Golden Gloves Championship Tournament – a question of friendship or championship – only one winner – decide to fight but not ready to harm the other – to be friends but to fight – they split and work to get together after fight – Antonio with Aunt Lucy in the Bronx – fight their hardest in 3 rounds – equal – go out of the ring after the fight without waiting for the announcement of the name of the winner – “No matter what the decision, they knew they would always be champions to each other.”

Message: True friendship lasts for ever, even after a great fight.

Significance of the Title: The Spanish word ‘Amigo‘ became very famous in English language through this story of two true friends, an apt title.

Explanation of some words

Golden Gloves Championship Tournament of New York :- A boxing tournament started in 1927 by Paul Gallico, a news paper writer. This tournament marks an amateure’s entry into boxing. George Foreman, and Muhammad Ali, etc, started their career with this tournament.

Puerto Rican: A person from Puerto Rico, a self governing commonwealth in the Caribbean which is a territory of United States, official name Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

the Lower East Side of Manhattan & the Bronx: (a borough of New York City, north of Manhattan):-

tenement building: a run down apartment building in which mostly poor families live.

fair and square: an idiom combining two adjectives = in a fair way, following the rules

Knock out: (boxing) eliminate by a blow to the head

right cross, lefts, short right, left hook, left and rights, punching, :- different types of blows of boxing.

bobbed and weaved: bob= move gently and vertically, weave= move by turning and twisting

elimination bouts: matches to determine which boxers advance in a competition.

pulling punches: holding back in delivering blows.

barrage: n. a rapid, heavy attack

torrent: n. A violent, rushing stream

unbridled: adj. lacking restraint or control

bedlam: n. a noisy confusion

flail: v. to wave wildly

countered: gave a blow after receiving or blocking his opponent’s blow.

feinted: made a pretend attack to draw attention from his real purpose.

groggy: unsteady and shaky but willing to proceed.

tic-tac-toe: a game in which two players take turn putting circles and crosses.

pried: past form of pry = get something open or separate

Pound away: strike hard

Prepared by thomas a a, ghss kattoor, irinjalakuda, thrissur

MODEL QUESTIONS:

Identify the similarities and the differences between Antonio Cruz and Felix Vargas.

SIMILARITIES:- Both Antonio and Felix were seventeen years old. Their friendship was stronger and they were living as brothers. Both of them had known each other well from their childhood onwards. They lived upon the Lower East side of Manhattan. Both of them had the same dream of becoming a light-weight champion of the world. They were very hard workers. They practised well for achieving their dream. They had a collection of Fight magazines.

DIFFERENCES:- Antonio was fair, lean and lanky. Felix was dark, short and husky. Antonio’s hair was always falling over his eyes. But Felix wore his black hair in a natural Afro style.

Imagine that you are a newspaper reporter and you witness the contest between the Amigo Brothers and note down the points which you would like to include in your report.

Venue: Tompkins Square Park.

Time : Afternoon.

Contestants: Antonio Cruz and Felix Vargas

(Park begins to fill up earlier…Fighters enter….Crowd explodes with a roar….Refree gives instructions….Fight begins….So much blows and punches…..Last round starts……Crowd becomes silent…….Amigo brothers’ blows continue to pound on each other like hailstones…..Referee and the two trainers pry Felix and Antonio apart……Before announcing the result, the champions leave the ring.)

MANHATTAN, 19^TH OCTOBER 2016: It was a wonderful evening for the audience at the Tompkins Square Park. Everybody present there witnessed the stunning performance of Amigo Brothers.

The fight between Antonio Cruz and Felix Vargas was fixed in Tompkins Square Park. The Park was crowded even before the scheduled time. The game started at 2 o’ clock. When the both fighters entered the audience welcomed them with great applause. Felix was escorted by a dozen fans in white T-shirts. Antonio too was escorted and guided in a grand manner. At first the referee gave the instructions. When the fight began, they attacked each other with strong blows and punches. The crowd was vibrant and enthusiastic in the beginning. When the fight was about to finish, they got worried. It was because of the fighters’ savage attacks. Both of them were really fighting hard. Everybody thought that it would end in draw. The crowd became silent and their blows continued. The bell rang again and again. Their blows appeared as hailstones. Finally the referee and the two trainers pried Felix and Antonio . After a few minutes, they looked around and then rushed towards each other and embraced each other. The referees were really in a dilemma. They found it very difficult to find the winner. The announcer began to make the announcement. He was looking around to see the winner. But both Antonio and Felix had left like true friends. They knew they would always be champions. The crowd at the Tompkins Square Park witnessed the true friendship of these two boxers.

MAKING ANNOUNCEMENTS:-

It is better to begin the announcement in an attractive style. The following announcement was made by the announcer before the competition began.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, now is the moment we have all been waiting for. The main event between the two fine young Puerto Rican fighters will begin shortly. The fighters are Antonio Cruz and Felix Vargas. Felix Vargas weighs 134 pounds and his rival Antonio Cruz weighs 133 pounds. The winner will represent the Boy’s club in the tournament of champions, the Golden Gloves. It would be really a wonderful competition. Soon the whistle will go and you will see the wonderful boxing competition.. Be ready for a breathtaking finish. I can see the referee preparing to whistle. Hope all of you would enjoy it well”.

You are a friend of the Amigo brothers and you witnessed the contest between them with great excitement. Prepare a blog entry describing the contest.

(When you start writing a blog, first of all you should give a catchy headline and the date.)

A STUNNING PERFORMANCE BY AMIGO BROTHERS.

DATE AND NAME It was a wonderful evening for the audience at the Tompkins Square Park. Everybody present there witnessed the stunning performance of Amigo Brothers.

Prepared by Joy Peter C