Sunday, December 11, 2011

On the final exam

PRACTICE QUIZ
1. purpose of MLA header? what if you forget? what goes in it and where?

2. purpose of MLA parenthetical citation? format? for plays? punctuation?

3. purpose of works cited? format?

4. purpose of essay title? format?  punctuation? conventions? colon? what should it include?

5. purpose of 's? conventions and rules? plurals?

6. why does surface correctness matter? to readers? to graders? to employers?

7. How many errors can you find by careful proofreading? 100%? 80%? 50%? How can you correct errors you can't spot?

8. Define thesis statement. How general or specific should it be?

9. DEfine topic sentence. What should it include and not include?

10. Define fragment and how to fix it.

11. Define comma splice and how to fix it.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Monday's Blog: Reflect back

for Monday's blog: REFLECT ON ONE WORK OR ACTIVITY THAT YOU ENJOYED OR LEARNED FROM THIS SEMESTER

Monday, December 5, 2011

Prufrock

Prufock
Read and annotate "The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock"
Wed Dec 7 blog: HOW the poem uses language is as important as WHAT it says: explain using one small example.
or write about #6 on p.1039 How do the fragments communicate about modern man?
or #11 on the allusions to "Coy Mistress" Q: How is Eliot's purpose different?
or #13 (and #5) on p.1040 what's similar and different about Hamlet and Prufrock?

Thursday's blog: Explain your best performance choices in Act I scene 2 (p.728) in a few lines from lines 62-89 or 106-132
Quite an accomplishment! A life well lived!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Film Essay due Dec. 4

ESSAY DUE: Sun. Dec. 4
Keep a detailed film viewing journal to record all the visual details which will be your evidence (instead of quotes) in your Hamlet Film essay.

factors
Mel Gibson
Kenneth Branaugh
Acting (on screen)


Language (pace, meter, etc.)


Setting


Camera Angle, Lights, Composition, etc.



Compare a very few visual aspects of two or three films. Or you can make notes in the margin of the book or the script. Q: How do the different film versions of Act I scene 2 differ in emphasis and meaning?
Q: What visual elements (camera angle, lighting, composition in the frame)--in addition to the acting--influence the different interpretations of Shakespeare's script? Outline an essay!

Prompt: Make your own prompt by focusing on one small portion of Act I scene 2 (one character? one line? one event?), make a claim about two or three film versions (and how the decisions--both acting and filmic--interpret the play differently), supply evidence from the films (visual details that you describe in sentences--no need to quote, no need to cite except for the director's last name), analyze those visual details at length, and structure your essay so it makes an interesting point. Proofread carefully ('s, fragments, MLA header, works cited, etc.) before you upload to turnitin.com before midnight Sun. Dec. 4.
I miss you, Daddy!
Brainstorming ideas for Hamlet in Film Essay
·         Find an (film) angle that interests you
·         Mother son relationship in two films
·         King Claudius: the nicer he gets the more monstrous
·         Close up shots of King, Queen, Hamlet: what they reveal that the stage play cannot
·         Lighting as a tool for interpreting the play and subtly emphasizing themes
·         focus on one line: and analyze three versions of it, both delivery, acting, but also camera angle, close up, sound, lighting, filmic aspects that add to what you're claiming.
  • Hamlet: I shall in all my best obey you, Madam.
  • Claudius: For the let the world take note, you are the most immediate to our throne
  • Focus on one character: queen, king, son, crowd
  • Focus on two characters: mom/son, father/son, queen/king.
  • Focus on camera work.
  • Make sure you have a strong claim.
choose from each:
--one, two, or three film versions
--one, two, or three characters (or the crowd)
--5-10 lines (a mini-scene)
--isolation, alienation, disconnection, manipulation
--add analysis of film: lighting, camera angle, close up, music/sound, etc.
--what is your main focus?  What do you want to say about your focus?
--write a theis
--add works cited page

(on You Tube)

Laurence Olivier, 1948 (soliloquy only)

Mel Gibson, 1990 (soliloquy only)

Kenneth Branagh, 1996 (soliloquy only)

Nicol Williamson, 1968
Nicol Williamson ... Hamlet
Judy Parfitt ... Gertrude
Anthony Hopkins ... Claudius
Michael Pennington ... Laertes
Gordon Jackson ... Horatio
John Trenaman ... Barnardo
Directed by Tony Richardson

Kevin Kline, 1990 for tv (most of scene 2)
Peter Francis James ... Horatio
Dana Ivey ... Gertrude
Brian Murray ... Claudius
Kevin Kline ... Hamlet
from a 1990 TV broadcast

Olivier, Gibson, and Branagh together (superimposed)

Monday, November 14, 2011

Olivier, Hamlet, and Freud

He LOVES his mother.
Read "Olivier, Hamlet, and Freud" by Peter Donaldson (Cinema Journal, 26, No. 4, Summer 1987)
Extract important information from the article (as you will be expected to do next year in college).
Follow Donaldson's arguments about Freud, Ernest Jones, and Laurence Olivier's own autobiography and life that may have made him connect with the Oedipal view of interpreting Hamlet. See how Olivier departed radically from previous stage interpretations and explained his self-destructiveness and reluctance to hurt Claudius (before his delay had no clear motive). And see Olivier as a child actor brilliantly playing his own dead mother. It's food for thought! And we need to practice college-type readings followed by discussion and writing.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

South Pacific!

Congratulations Seniors on a Great Show!
Savannah, Mark, Emely, Michael, Anthony, Brandon, Michael, Alan, Kevin, Adrian, Leon, Daniel!
And great support from Jesse, Jonathan, Alexander, Jordan, Olivia, Mr. Wittmer, and Ms. Vaquilar.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Does Hamlet have Mother issues?

Which photo shows Hamlet's mother issues?
Add caption
Does Hamlet have issues with his mother?
mother issues
Or does he just love her?

Mother issues
What do you think?

Mother issues

Mon
Tue
Wed  (8 blogs)
Thu
Fri
This Week: Read Act IV, act a scene, blog about sounds in poetry and Hamlet for Wed., blog for Thursday, Thurs. short quiz on sounds in Hamlet and poems, for Mon read Act V and blog about how King manipulates Laertes
Nov 7 NO blog
Finish reading Hamlet Act IV
Poem sounds
8
Audio, acting, analyze
9
5th Wed blog sounds in poetry
10 blog due on how Hamlet attacks Mom
+ quiz on sounds
11 no School
Mon: Read Act V  
Blog  King & Laertes
Note sounds in Hamlet in your scenes and on p.765 ("bloody, bawdy villain").