Zac Funderburke

Assignment One
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Prison Break
Background information: The Netflix series I am doing this project on is Prison break. The
main characters name is Michael Scofield, he is an architectural engineer that designed the
prison that his brother is in. The brother that is in prison is Lincoln Burrows, he was framed for
the murder of the vice presidents brother and is sentenced to the death penalty by a certain date.
Lincoln did not have evidence that he was innocent and still does not because the government is
the only people who have the original video tape and the only copy that anybody has seen is the
one that the government has tampered with to make it look like Lincoln actually committed the
crime. The video tape had video of him walking up to the vice presidents brothers car and
shooting him through the window. In order for Michael to break his brother out of prison he has
to get in somehow, but before he does that he gets the blueprints tattooed on his body in layers
that only he can understand.
Figured world: A large social structure that has specific rules and conventions for appropriate
behavior.
Since my topic is on a Netflix series, I feel that the appropriate behavior would be to
bring headphones to class so I do not disturb other students. The series I am watching has
violence within the prison but nothing too serious. Of the main characters, only a few are violent
towards other prisoners. The only character that has no remorse when it comes to fighting is
Theodor Bagwell (T-bag). In the first season he does not show how vicious he really is but it
still shows a little of how he is outside of prison. The prison guards are very violent towards the
prisoners. Any time they do not do something they are told they beat them hardly to death, or if
they start a fight. Another one of the main characters is one of the nurses, Sara Tancredi, the
community of practice that she is in plays a big role in the first break out. Michael spends a lot
of his time in prison in the infirmary, but little does Sara know, Michael has a plan to use her
office to get out.
Actors: A person that fulfills a specific role or function within the community.

Michael Scofield: The main character in this series, he is a creative genius that looks at
things differently than normal people. For example, if he were to look at a building, we would
just see the outside of the building, but when he looks at it he sees the construction of the
building, ie: Plumbing pipes, AC units, etc. He is the designer of the prison that his brother was
sent to. He has the blueprints of the prison tattooed on his body to help him get around the
prison and find out which pipes lead to what.

Lincoln Burrows: The reason behind this whole season, he was wrongly convicted of
murder. He was sentenced to the death penalty for the murder of the vice presidents brother.
The vice president ordered her workers to make the video tape look like he actually did it. The
only person that believes he is innocent is his brother.

Commented [1]: Good background information and

describing the main plot of the story. Coming from
someone who's watched the series, maybe go into
more detail about what the video tape actually has on
it, or what they cut out. Just describe the video tape to
make it more clear to the audience of what it entails.
Commented [ZF2R1]:
Commented [ZF3R1]:
Commented [ZF4R1]:
Commented [5]: Good relevant background
information! However I would go further in detail with
what department, or section of government is keeping
the original copy. Also the last sentence seemed to
important information, it was difficult to understand
what you meant by this. Maybe you could elaborate on
tattooed blueprints with more than one sentence.
Commented [ZF6R5]: In the first season, the
department of government is not that significant.
Commented [7]: I think Ashlyn would like it more if you
put more specific rules for your world in this section.
What are some things the characters in the prison
avoid or welcome as a part of their world? As far as
behavior goes, who are the other main characters who
show violence towards prisoners?
Commented [8]: I think that you gave some good
information about the main character. How he is the
one who designed the prison and his brother is in. I
would also add some more information to the other
characters so that their description is as good or better
than his.
Commented [9]: I don't think it would hurt to put more
information behind some of the character you have as
actors. Such as "Sara Tancredi", elaborate how she
plays a huge role in the first breakout. How does her
interactions through characters make her such a big
part of the first breakout? Also with "Fernando Sucre",
name some of the situations in which he helps Michael.
Commented [10]: Seeing that this may be a
substantial piece of information, go into more detail on
this. Has he designed other prisons? Is that going to
help him in aiding his brothers escape out of jail?


Sara Tancredi: One of the nurses for the prison, but ends up playing a huge role
because her office is right above the AC vent, which is the way they are escaping. Michael has a
plan to try to make Sara fall for him so she will let him into the office on the night of the escape.

Fernando Sucre: Michaels cell mate once he gets to prison. He becomes one of
Michaels good friends and helps him through situations, so he brings Sucre with him on the
escape.

Theodor Bagwell (T-bag): A disgusting human being within the series. He does
whatever he has to do to get what he wants. He forces his way into the escape by threatening to
snitch on the escapees.

Charles Westmoreland: Also known as D.B. Cooper, was put in jail for highkacking a
plane and stealing over $5 million. He becomes part of the escape team because he is the only
person in the prison that has perks, because he has been there so long and all of the guards like
him.
Artifacts: Physical objects, emotions, and ideas that have cultural significance within a
specific figured world.

An origami duck: This how Michael communicates with his brother and Sara. When he
cant get to them in person he finds a way to tell them information by sending a duck to them.

Michaels Tattoos: This isnt really an artifact but it has significance to the first two
seasons. He gets the blueprints of the prison tattooed on his body along with his plans after the
breakout.
Michaels love for his brother: Michael gets the blueprints of the prison tattooed on his
body and robs a bank so he is sent to the prison. His brother was sentenced to the death penalty
so Michael is doing everything he can to get the date for it pushed back so he can help his
brother escape.

Commented [11]: I think another artifact could be the

main characters' love for his brother. He designed the
prison and specifically got in trouble so that he could go
in and help his brother out. Plus, he tattooed the all of
the blueprints of the building onto his body as well.

Literacy practices: Ways of communication that are written, and/or spoken.

Origami Duck: This plays a huge part in the way they communicate throughout the
prison. Michael will leave the ducks in a place that he knows the person it is indicate for will
find. The ducks usually have a location and time as to when something is going to happen.

Texting: Not so much in this season as the next one because he does not have a phone in
the first season but he does in the second, but in some parts throughout the first season the only
way for him to get in touch with people is to use a payphone in the prison.

Visitation: Michael will communicate with lawyers working his brothers case through
visitation hours. Also he will tell the people visiting to bring him something that has
significance to the breakout, and he finds a way to get it into the prison.
Talking: Face to face talking is the only way of communication in the prison. If
anybody wants to propose anything to Michael or anybody they have to go find them and talk
face to face.

Commented [12]: I would add "talking" as another

literacy practice. Since they are in prison, that's
basically all they can do with the others inside the
prison. They probably communicate somehow in the
prison besides the origami duck.

Domain: Domain refers to how much a person knows about the topic of importance in the
community of practice.
The Escape: Michael has a plan to get into the prison and break his brother out, but during
the process he has a few other prisoners that try to get in on it. Some of the people that get in on
it have something to offer him though. For example, one of them can arrange a jet to take them
to another country as soon as they break out.
The prison: The prison was designed by Michael, so he knows where every vent goes and
where every pipe leads. This contributes to the breakout in a huge way. Also in order to get to
the starting point of the escape, they have to get in on the construction team. Thats where one
of the gained members comes from.
Michaels intelligence: Michael is diagnosed with low latent inhibition which causes him
to process everything that an average persons brain does not process. Like I stated earlier, he is
a genius, his smarts lead to a successful plan.
Community of Practice: This is a term used to describe an amount of people that share a
common interest. It is used to propose problems and resolve them. trial and error type
learning.
Inmates planning on escaping: Michael, Lincoln, T-bag, Sucre, Benjamin, and John. These
were the people that were successful after the escape. There were three other people that tried
but one died during the escape, the other did not make it out, and the other one had a mental
issue and committed suicide after he was out.
Prison Guards: There are only a few of these that play an important role throughout the
season. One of them is named Bellock, he is the meanest guard and is constantly trying to foil
Michaels plan. The other guard does not play a role until the second season, and the third
person is the warden. He figures out that Michael is an architect and he asks him to work in his
office on a sculpture he is planning to give to his wife.
Practices of the Community: The practice of the community, according to this reading, would
be not only previous experiences with the current problem, but putting your previous
experiences to use to try and resolve the problem with the community of practice.
Logistics of the escape: Each person that is in on the escape either have something they can
give to help with the escape or they have a way to get it. Each prisoner has to take turns drilling
through walls, digging, gathering supplies, etc.
The escape issue: Obviously, the guards job is to keep the prisoners from escaping and
fighting, but when Michael enters the prison, it becomes very difficult for them to figure out
what Michael is up to. They figure out that something is fishy, because of the way he acts in the
courtyard. He stands by himself just scoping the prison out. When they are drilling into the
ground, all of the escapees have to take every tiny piece of the concrete because they cant leave
any evidence, and they have to dispose of them by dropping them on the field in random places,
but Michael gets caught and gets interrogated.

Commented [13]: I like the way you give some

examples of how the domain affects the characters. I
believe that it was important how you listed that other
prisoners attempt to join the escape. From what I have
read it would be impossible for Michael to pull it off by
himself. Finally, I thought the prison was a very good
choice for a domain. Obvioulsy no one wants to be in
prison, and I'm sure everyone would want to come
together to escape with Michael.

Commented [14]: You did a good job describing who

the people escaping were. Maybe since your
observations don't go into when they actually escape
you should try for a different description. Even
changing "the escapees" to "inmates planning on
escaping" would be acceptable in my book.

Observation 1:
3:00: Michael gets the blueprints tattooed on his body, and heads back to his house and throws
away all of his research. He grabs a pistol and heads to the bank to rob it, so he can get arrested
and sent to prison at Fox River with his brother.
10:00: Michael enters the prison and it shows on the paper he wrote down that he had type I
diabetes, this is significant to him getting to the nurse often. His cell mate starts introducing him
to the prison, and telling him that the only difference in them and the guards is a badge. As
Sucre is introducing him to people, Michael starts looking around and noticing fire hydrants and
sewage pipes, and he drops a magazine down the drain to see where it ends. As soon as he drops
the magazine he looks up and says Im looking for Lincoln Burrows(his brother).
20:00: Lincoln tells Michael that May 11th is the day he will be executed, and Michael starts
trying to figure out how and why he was set up, but Lincoln has no idea. After he leaves Lincoln
he goes straight to John, the guy that can get him on the construction team, and hands him an
origami duck. In the meantime, it shows Lincolns son LJ selling drugs, and it implies that he did
it because he is disappointed in his dad and uncle. Then it shows Michael in the Nurse's office
and starts flirting with her, and as soon as she leaves the room he drops a duck in the drain to see
where it leads.
30:00: The warden calls Michael to his office, and tells him that he needs him to work on the gift
he got for his wife. The gift is a Taj Mahal but he does not know how to correctly support the
structure so he offers Michael to work on it for pay. Michael and Lincolns lawyers name is
veronica, she recently dated Lincoln and she is trying to convince Michael that she will do
anything to help, and Michael says if you want to help, find out who is trying to bury him.
John, the head of the construction team, is in prison because he was set up by a guy named
Fibinachi, and john gets a call saying that one of his coworkers has something on Fibinachi, and
then the guy on the phone tells John that all he found at the location was an origami duck. John
hangs up the phone and goes straight to Michael.
40:00: Back in the nurses office, Michael notices his way out by looking out a window and
seeing a thick wire running from her window to the top of the prison wall. The nurse tells him
that his blood does not need the insulin shots, so he goes to a guy that has the title the
pharmacist and asks him for a drug that blocks insulin, and he says only if you tell me why it is
that he needs to be in the nurses office all the time. Michael lies to him but eventually he finds
out why and thats how the escapees gain a person.
Summary: Michael gets himself sent to prison to break his brother out, because his brother is
sentenced to death for a murder he did not commit. Inside the prison Michael has to find certain
people that have certain perks in the prison, for example, the pharmacist. He works his way up
to the nurses office because that room is the root of the escape. Then he makes his way to the
pharmacist and asks for an insulin blocker so he can spend as much time in the Nurses office as
necessary.
Observation 2:

Commented [15]: It might be good too add some more

information to each of the observation times. There is a
large amount of time between each and being a little
more in depth may give everyone a better
understanding about what is going on so that we can
visualize it. Then, we will begin t know a lot more about
the show like you and others who have watched it.

For the second observation, I am skipping from season 1 episode 1 to season 1

episode 7. The reason behind this is because I want to capture the main points of the
escape so I am spacing the episodes out. Throughout the first 6 episodes, Michael gets the
antidote thats blocks insulin, so he can spend as much time in the nurses office. He also
gets a large metal bolt that is used in a part of the escape. In the meantime, the prison gets
a new inmate named Haywire and they put him in the cell with Michael, but he is shortly
sent to the mental institution. But, before he leaves he notices that Michaels tattoos are a
map of the prison and he threatens to tell if he doesnt let him come, so that is how the
escapees gained another one.
3:00: The episode starts by showing a riot within the prison and while the riot is going on
Michael is on the roof of the prison trying to figure out the best escape route. Then he sees Sara
in her Nurses office and she is in trouble, so Michael heads back in. Then it shows Michael
before the riot cutting the air conditioning off to buy time because he knew that it would start a
riot.
8:00: During the riot it shows Lincoln being jumped by a bunch of prisoners and somebody
jumps in to help him and tells him he knows where his brother is. While he is following him to
where Michael is, it shows that that prisoner was hired to kill Lincoln and then it shows him and
Lincoln fighting, but Lincoln ends up killing the other guy by accident. There is a gang of
prisoners trying to break in the nurses office to rape Sara, but Michael is making his way
through the vents to get to her without thinking that the only exit out of her office is back
through the vents and Sara gets curious as to why he is up there but he just plays it off by saying
he saw her in trouble.
15:00: The way Michael gets into the walls of the prison is by taking his sink out of the wall in
his cell, but while he was in the walls a guard came into his cell and asked why the sink was off
the wall. Before he could get finish talking Sucre knocked him out. T-bag was trying to take
advantage of the guard and one of the other members of the team came in and stopped him. He
told him that they should not be taking advantage of him in that way but he should be using him
as leverage to get what they need.
25:00-35:00: Michael finally get Sara out of the room and as soon as they get out of the vents
the gang that was trying to rape her is waiting on them. Michael somehow chokes out one of
them and Sara breaks the others leg. Michael makes his way to an exit with police forces
pointing guns at him and Sara but she does not want him to leave because she wants him to get
recognition for what he did, but he doesnt want to accept it because the reason he is in the prison
in the first place is to get his brother out. They give him a countdown before they shoot and he
walks back in the prison.
Observation 3:
For this observation, I am skipping to season 1 episode 11. Throughout episodes 8
through 10 the construction crew has been working in the guards breakroom on getting to
the pipe that starts the breakout. Michael gets a guy named Charles Westmoreland to go
into the breakroom and start a fire (he chose him because he has been in the prison so long

Commented [16]: I think this is a great idea, however

just make sure you include small points along with the
main ones. Some small notes in a skipped episode
could result in confusion later if not written down. I think
this will give Ashlyn a better view of the main story line
instead of taking a whole season to get there.

Commented [17]: I like how you are spacing it out so

we can get a bigger picture of whats going on/ whats
going to happen. Maybe in this part you could explain
how important some of the details described are. Tell
us what kind of impact each detail has on the plot.

he has perks). So after he agreed to doing that he joined the team of escapees. John, the
leader of the construction team, gets removed from the construction team so that meant
that nobody from the escape team could work on the pipe. John has to do certain things
for the guards to get his position back, but he eventually gets it back. Michael builds a
device to help the team figure out how much time they will have to escape and that is where
this episode is.
5:00: Michael is sitting in the nurses office and drops a solution of toothpaste and something
else that made an acid liquid that could eat through metal and he drops it down the drain when
Sara is not looking. Michael helped this girl with a big problem previously and it just tells about
it, he basically housed her when she came across the border, and she told him that anytime he
needed anything she would do it. An officer just came and told Michael his wife was here to see
him and she brings him a credit card.
15:00: Michaels team gets mad at him because they have been doing this labor digging the hole
to the pipe and he has been with his wife. Now all the prisoners are in their cells for night time
and Michael goes into the walls with the credit card. It shows how in the past, before he went to
prison and it was a card to get in certain rooms that the guards need a key for. Michael snuck
into the room that the guards take your clothes for storage when your first get to prison, and got
back all of his things except for the gold watch he was wearing, and that was there for a specific
reason. He then finds out that one of the guards is a thief and he sees him wearing the watch so
he tries to find a way to get it back.
25:00: Westmorelands cell mate is in prison for theft of an off duty cop, so Michael tells him if
he can get the watch back he can work on the construction team. Michael is sitting in the nurses
office when a patient comes in seizing, but it was just the cell mate faking it so he could get the
watch off of the guards hands. Westmoreland tells Michael that he wants in on the escape now
and Michael tells him if he wants in he has to bring something to the table. Westmoreland tells
him that he is D.B. Cooper, the guy that was arrested for a plane highjacking and stealing $5
million. He tells Michael that if he lets him in he will let him have the money.
30:00: the watch Michael got back, he connected it to a recorder. Michael planted it in the
ground below where they plan on escaping and he tracks the time that he has between the guards
walking shifts. Sara sees Michaels wife leaving and she sees him kiss her and she tells him
from now on any type of medical concern is ok, but any personal questions or favors cant be
done for him anymore. Michael finds out the next day that they have eighteen minutes to get the
barrier off the wall and get across the wire. He later does the math and finds out that it will take
at least 5 minutes to get the barrier off, and 2 minutes for each person to cross. He calls Lincoln
aside and tells him that they have to get rid of somebody and T-bad over hears him. This later
causes complications because T-bag tries to use it as leverage on them.

Commented [18]: by looking for synonyms of

descriptive words.
Commented [ZF19R18]:
Commented [ZF20R18]:

Interview Questions:
1. How do you feel about the two brothers relationship?
I feel like the two brothers have a very strong bond. If one is willing to be sent to prison
to break the other one out, thats the true definition of love.
2. Do you think that Michael wanted to bring along all of the people he did on the escape?
No way. Michael only had a plan to break him and Lincoln out but he did plan on
gaining a few extra people, but not that many.
3. Did you like the first season as a whole? (what about it)
Yes, one of the best series Ive ever seen. The first season is the best of the three, each
episode is packed with information, but it was still easy to follow. Personally, I thought
that this was one of the most interesting series Ive ever seen.
4. Did you think the director of the series did a good job keeping people entertained?
Definitely. Like I said in the last question, best series Ive ever seen.
5. How do you think other inmates did not find out about what was going on?
Michael is so good at what he does. He isnt too flashy about what hes doing and he
keeps a tight circle. He stays in the shadows and if anybody finds out about it he either
lets them in on it or he finds a way to make them keep quiet.
6. How did they keep the guards from knowing for so long?
He covered his tracks after everything he did. He would always replace the sink after he
went into the walls, and he also covered up the hole they were digging in the guards
breakroom.
7. Do you think that Michael would say getting his brother out was a success?
Yes, he came into the prison with an objective to get Lincoln out and that is exactly
what he did.
Ashlyns Feedback
Zach-

One major issue: I didn't see much change between the first and second drafts; it seems that
you still have several notations of questions that you had during the peer workshop without
making any revisions. For this reason, I had to deduct a number of points. I did notice that you
took into account some of the suggestions, which is good. But, here I have tried to make note of
several pieces of feedback that I want you to incorporate.
Remove the peer commentary from the second revised draft of assignment one. Though I can
follow what you are doing throughout this assignment, the comments are a bit distracting.
I found it interesting how you discussed some of the rules and conventions in terms of what was
appropriate for working in class. One thing I have to say is that I do agree with Dillon that you
need to add more specific rules and conventions about the show. Respond to: What are some
of the things that the prisoners welcome or avoid as a part of their world?
I agree with Adam that you need some sort of summary between each observation write up to
help connect them. There does seem to be a lot of time that passes between each observation,
and as someone unfamiliar with the show, having this summary would help me as a reader.

Definitely include some photos from what you have observed to help readers visually connect to
your descriptions. Perhaps having a picture of the fireman's prayer, of the station, caption,
volunteers etc. would be the best route to take. You may consider using the slideshow feature in
Wix to add visual appeal both to your assignment one and your overall course portfolio.