Matt GoldsteinProf. JamesActors CraftSeptember 14, 2014Gravestone MissionThis weeks mission took me by surprise at first, but despite my weird feelings about entering the graveyard, I explored it on Tuesday and actually enjoyed the experience immensely. The graveyard was beautiful quiet and green, and filled with afternoon sunlight. I walked among the gravestones, glancing at their inscriptions, not truly moved by any of them, until I saw one that caught my eye.This gravestone, whiter and older looking than the ones around it, had four names on it:Robert Charles 1899-2000Lily Charles 1902-1954Amanda Vernon 1934-Grace Charles 1937-After reading the dates on the stone, I did a double take, for I realized that Robert Charles had lived over a hundred years! Stunned by this incredible fact, I compared that to his wifes lifespan: 52 years. He lived almost twice her life. At this realization, I sat down and started doing my best to communicate with Robert and try and figure out his life story, and this is what I came up with:Robert Charles wife was his everything. They were high school sweethearts, and were married soon after high school. Lily was bright, silly, passionate, smart, and adventurous, and while Robert was quieter, she made him feel alive. He was always good with his hands, and ended up getting a job working in a factory in Poughkeepsie. His wife loved going into the city, so Robert worked up to by a car so that he could take her there whenever she liked. They had two little girls when they were in their thirties, and Robert loved them, but he didnt quite know how to interact with young girls. Lily thrived as a mother, and Robert usually stood to the side and let her whisk them away on imaginary adventures.When Lily was 52, she was simply walking home from the grocery store and was hit by a car and killed. The accident tore Robert apart. From that point on, his relationship with his daughters was strained, as he didnt know how to relate with them without his wife there. He resented technological progress because of his wifes cause of death, and as he watched technology swiftly progress over the next 50 years he became increasingly resentful and detached from society. The entire second half of his life was essentially spent wondering what it would have been like with Lily there.I thought this mission was interesting, but also had some qualms with it. I think the purpose was to give us practice with flushing out a character and connecting with another persons life story. One should be able to take key facts about a written character and extrapolate traits, ticks, hobbies, etc. However, I felt weird about ascribing a story to a real person who I only knew basic facts about. I dont actually know what Robert Charles life was like, and I felt uncomfortable creating a story about his life and presenting it as if it were real.