The high school that I attended required the completion of a senior project to graduate. I wasn't keen on the whole idea, but I figured that the work I was putting toward the May Day Mystery could be converted into some sort of project that would let me squeak by with a passing score (something like 15 out of 45). Presentation day rolled around on May 15th, and I received scores of 45, 45, 44, and 43. Not bad for somethng presented with a speech I cobbled together that morning!
Presentation
This is the speech I gave to my panel of judges. I read this speech word for word off of a sheet. It was accompanied by a Power Point slide show. Slides were changed at the beginning of each paragraph, so that slide 2 aligns with paragraph 1 and so on.
Volume I
The Page Ads section contains a transcribed version of every transmission with accompanying annotations. The divisions and subdivisions of the texts are to facilitate cross referencing.
On February 14th, 2001, the Orphanage contacted a contributor known as RepubGirl, suggesting it would aid in the comprehension of the ads to make a list of Bible verses that have appeared in the ads in the order in which they would appear in the Bible (Freaks 123). The Analysis of Scripture in the Page Ads is my wholly original implementation of that suggestion, drawing on nothing from other similar endeavors.
While using Bryan Hance's website to access the archived May Day Mystery texts, I have added to the overall body of knowledge on that site. Contributions I have made to to MayDayMystery.org are also chronicled in this volume.
Volume II
The Recent Developments section provides annotation and summary of the communication between Bryan Hance and the Orphanage. It is structured in the same way that the page ads analyses were structured, with different divisions and subdivisions. When an item in Recent Developments is cited within the notes, it is prefaced with RD (e.g. (RD1a)).
The Character Timeline was an Excel spreadsheet created by me to keep track of the different persons mentioned in the ads, what they did, and when they did it. I have also included in the timeline members of the Orphanage who we have only met through direct communication, but only on the instance of first contact.
Journal
I kept a record of my work on the Mystery to use as an aid when it came time to present. I didn't use much from the Journal in giving my presentation, but it does shed some light on my process and is a clearinghouse for some general theories of mine.