English Composition II: ENGL 112 Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Plan for Today  Section 1 (5:15-6:45) –Weeks 4 and 5 Quizzes –Making Up Week 4 –Lecture on Character and Drama  Section 2 (7:00-8:30) –Discussion of A Raisin in the Sun  Section 3 (8:45-10:15) –Essay 2 Assignment –Peer Workshop Group Meeting –Assign Homework

Weeks 4 and 5 Quizzes

Making Up for Week 4  Week 4 Quiz – just completed  Attendance Points for Week 4 –5 for submitting Essay 2 Prewriting –5 for completing Virtual Peer Review  Virtual Peer Review –Groups will meet briefly at the end of class to set their own deadlines –Must copy me on the with your feedback to receive credit for the Peer Review activity  Questions about Essay 2 –Can talk with me after class tonight –Can schedule a meeting with me for Wednesday or Thursday

Drama Reading and Writing About Drama

Literary Terms Related to Drama (pp )  Divisions –Acts: larger divisions –Scenes: smaller divisions within acts  Stage Directions –specify characters’ entrances and exits –describe what settings look like and how characters look and act  Main difference from fiction –no narrator to tell us what characters think or to give background –only know what characters reveal

Literary Terms Related to Drama (pp )  Dialogue: lines spoken by the characters, bulk of the content in drama  Monologue: extended speech by one character  Soliloquies: monologue in which a character expresses private thoughts while alone on stage  Aside –brief comment by character –reveals his/her thoughts by speaking directly to the audience –comments not heard by the other characters

Character

Character and Characterization (p 254)  Character: a fictional representation of a person  Characterization –way writers develop characters and reveal those characters’ traits to readers –can be through comments by narrator or other characters the character’s actions, reactions, speech, thoughts

Types of Characters (pp )  Round Character: –well developed and closely involved in and responsive to action –often flaws make them more believable  Flat Character: barely developed or stereotypical  Types of Flat Characters –Foil: supporting character whose role is to highlight a major character by serving as a contrast –Stock Character: easily identifiable types who behave so predictably that readers can readily recognize them

Types of Characters (pp 255)  Dynamic Character: –grows and changes in the course of a story –develops as s/he reacts to events and to other characters  Static Character: may face same challenges as dynamic character but remains essentially unchanged  Connections between Types of Characters –Often, but NOT always, characters are both round/dynamic or flat/static –Sometimes a lack of change is important in the presentation of a round character –Minor characters often static because we don’t know enough to know if they change

Character in Drama (pp )  Characters’ Words –Learn about character through monologue/soliloquy and dialogue –Language that’s formal/informal, including slang and dialect –Tone (in words and stage directions) shows his/her attitude –Verbal and Dramatic Irony important  Characters’ Actions –What they do –What they don’t do –How they interact with other characters

Character in Drama (pp )  Stage Directions –Staging Includes scenery, props, lighting, music, sound effects, costumes, etc. Contributes to the way the play looks and sounds –Can also include physical descriptions about characters or the way lines are to be delivered  Actors’ Interpretations –Actor chooses how to perform character or to follow stage directions –Director can influence this as well, particularly through casting certain actors to play the characters

Theme

Theme in Drama (pp )  Ways to Identify Theme in Drama –Title –Conflicts –Dialogue –Characters –Staging

A Raisin in the Sun

 How was the experience of reading drama different from fiction?  Read “Harlem” by Langston Hughes (pp ). How does it relate to the play?  The textbook suggests that “I Stand Here Ironing” and “Everyday Use” are “related works.” How do you think they relate to the play?  How do you feel about the ending of the play? Was it satisfying?

Group Discussions of A Raisin in the Sun  How did the stage directions impact your reading? Find some examples in the text to share.  How does the setting (historical, geographical, and physical) impact the plot?  Which character did you think was the protagonist? The Antagonist?  What symbols appear in the play? How do you know they’re symbols? What does each symbolize?  What conflicts appear in the play? How do these conflicts contribute to the larger meaning of the play?

Considering Actors’ Interpretations of Character  End of Act 3 (pp ) –2003 Version: Chapter 14 –2008 Version: Chapter 27  Watch for the interpretations of these characters –Ruth –Beneatha –Walter –Lindner –Mama  How does the ending of the 2008 version compare with the play?

Paper 2 – Literary Analysis Assignment and Peer Workshop Group Meeting

Essay 2 Assignment  Two Options –Literary Devices and Theme –Film Adaptation  In both –Choose one story (can’t be one you discussed in Essay 1) –Choose three literary devices –Discuss the way the literary devices contribute to larger meaning For option 1: theme For option 2: larger meaning/point of film –Use text as only source –Length: 4-6 pages

Essay 2 Virtual Workshop Questions Literary DevicesFilm Adaptation General Review: What is the essay’s thesis statement? Copy and paste that thesis. What theme does the essay identify? What three literary devices does the essay analyze and apply to the theme? How much does the essay rely on plot? Too much? Not enough? Just enough? General Review: What is the essay’s thesis statement? Copy and paste that thesis. What larger meaning does the film adaptation make? What three literary devices does the essay propose to adapt? How much does the essay rely on plot? Too much? Not enough? Just enough? Specific Items: Write a basic outline of the essay’s paragraphs. Is this organization logical and easy to follow? Check MLA formatting. Are page numbers for the stories cited correctly? Specific Items: Write a basic outline of the essay’s paragraphs. Is this organization logical and easy to follow? Check MLA formatting. Are page numbers for the stories cited correctly?

Essay 2 Virtual Workshop Instructions  Steps for Virtual Workshop – essay as an attachment to group –Use peer review questions to review essays – responses to author and me in body of reply  Items for Groups to Make Tonight –Deadlines for ing essay out ing responses to each other –Exchange addresses –If group has more than 3 people, determine which 2 essays each person will review –Submit these responses to me

Essay 2 Virtual Peer Review Workshop Groups LD Group 1: Darrell – The Storm Mike – A Raisin in the Sun Patty – I Stand Here Ironing Mark – The Yellow Wallpaper LD Group 4: LD Group 2: Peggy – A Raisin in the Sun Shamus – The Yellow Wallpaper April – I Stand Here Ironing FA Group 5: Gerald – A Good Man is Hard to Find Roosevelt – Everyday Use Cory – The Cask of Amontillado LD Group 3: Paul – The Cask of Amontillado RJ – A Raisin in the Sun Tim – The Storm

Homework  Reading (always including textual introductions): –Poems: Dickinson, "I'm nobody! Who are you?”; Dickinson, "My life had stood-- a Loaded Gun”; Cummings, "anyone lived in a pretty how town”; Williams, "Red Wheelbarrow”; Lorde, "Rooming Houses are Old Women”; Poe, "The Raven” –"Reading and Writing about Poetry," ; "The Speaker in the Poem," 838; "Writing about Word Choice and Word Order," 902; "Imagery," 911; "Simile, Metaphor, and Personification," 928; "Allegory," 1019  Assignment –Essay 2 due to turnitin.com before class AND as a hard copy in class