Note on the Revision HomeWork

Monday 3/26
I will not have time to respond to every student before this evening, so your revision will be due Wednesday.

Describing Effect

So, you've learned how to identify some literary elements (these are patterns observed by scholars of literature).  You can recognize those patterns too.  Now what?


The next step is figuring out what those elements actually do. Let's assume that Shakespeare isn't just showing off, that he has a point.  He wants us to understand something about his play: the characters, the plot, and the meaning we can take from this.  He also wants his audience to react: sympathy for some characters, fear or anger at particular events.  


For our discussions, we will consider effect through these two terms.




Two Rules for "Effect"
1. Character/Plot/Meaning: What does the literary element reveal about the character or meaning of the events?
2. Your experience: What do you experience while you read the text (or watch a film, or listen to a radio play, or see an image)?

Previewing the 1953 film (Periods 8&9)

Comparing your reading of Antony's soliloquy to the 1953 film version, directed and adapted for the screen by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. (This links to the IMDB page).




1. Print the soliloquy.  If you have trouble printing, you can write it out, but double space to leave room for marking. What does Antony sound like when you perform this soliloquy in your head?  This will be your interpretation.
     -Mark the shifts in tone.
     -Which words are emphasized?
     -What is the overall effect?


2. Listen to mp3 of Marlon Brando's performance: Brando's "Dogs of War" mp3.  Don't read along.  
      -Listen and concentrate on the sound.  Notice the long silence before he begins speaking.  Brutus has just left with the conspirators to address the public.  Antony is walking over toward Caesar's corpse.
      -Listen again with the handout.  Mark shifts in tone.  Which words are emphasized?  What is the overall effect?


3. Make predictions about the film.  What actions will Brando do while he is speaking?  How will the director capture this scene?


4. Watch the clip.
Film: Brado's Dogs of War  (This is a link to a .mov file.  You need Apple Quicktime to play it.  You can also use the YouTube link if this doesn't work for you. If you are watching this somewhere that blocks YouTube, I wanted you to have a second option.)  Film: YouTube link.
     -What is the total effect?  Consider Brando's performance, the stage, Mankiewicz's choices with the camera.




Just for fun: Comedian and impressionist Jim Meskimen performs Antony's funeral address in the voices of actors and famous people: Sir Ian McKellen (a.k.a. Gandolf the Grey & Magneto), JFK, George W. Bush, Napoleon Dynamite, and some other people you probably won't recognize. Jim Meskimen's Antony




Here's the whole film, if your interested.  There's probably easier ways to watch it at home.  I'm sure you can "borrow" it somewhere on the Internet.  This link will take a while, so click it, and go make some pop-corn, or take care of some chores you parents have been begging you to do.
Complete 1953 Film: William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

Previewing the 1953 film (Periods 2&3)

Comparing your reading of Antony's soliloquy to the 1953 film version, directed and adapted for the screen by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. (This links to the IMDB page).




1. Print the soliloquy.  If you have trouble printing, you can write it out, but double space to leave room for marking. What does Antony sound like when you perform this soliloquy in your head?  This will be your interpretation.
     -Mark the shifts in tone.
     -Which words are emphasized?
     -What is the overall effect?


2. Listen to mp3 of Marlon Brando's performance: Brando's "Dogs of War" mp3.  Don't read along.  
      -Listen and concentrate on the sound.  Notice the long silence before he begins speaking.  Brutus has just left with the conspirators to address the public.  Antony is walking over toward Caesar's corpse.
      -Listen again with the handout.  Mark shifts in tone.  Which words are emphasized?  What is the overall effect?


3. Make predictions about the film.  What actions will Brando do while he is speaking?  How will the director capture this scene?


4. Watch the clip.
Film: Brado's Dogs of War  (This is a link to a .mov file.  You need Apple Quicktime to play it.  You can also use the YouTube link if this doesn't work for you. If you are watching this somewhere that blocks YouTube, I wanted you to have a second option.)  Film: YouTube link.
     -What is the total effect?  Consider Brando's performance, the stage, Mankiewicz's choices with the camera.




Just for fun: Comedian and impressionist Jim Meskimen performs Antony's funeral address in the voices of actors and famous people: Sir Ian McKellen (a.k.a. Gandolf the Grey & Magneto), JFK, George W. Bush, Napoleon Dynamite, and some other people you probably won't recognize. Jim Meskimen's Antony




Here's the whole film, if your interested.  There's probably easier ways to watch it at home.  I'm sure you can "borrow" it somewhere on the Internet.  This link will take a while, so click it, and go make some pop-corn, or take care of some chores you parents have been begging you to do.
Complete 1953 Film: William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

2&3: Continue the Discussion (3/22)

Class is short.  Do you have more to say? Continue the conversation.

Literary Resources

This link is as much for me (so I don't lose it) as it is for you.  This in an unbelievably comprehensive collection of scholarship, definitions for literary terms, grammar, poetry, and so much more.

Dr. Wheeler's Website

On Irony (Periods 8-9)

Click the link to open the pdf file: The Three Most Common Uses of Irony.  (The Oatmeal is the name of the comic, and the artist also refers to himself as "The Oatmeal.") You can post here.


This comic covers dramatic, situational, and verbal irony.  Read the comic and reread Act III Scene i.  Identify at least three examples of irony from the text and describe the effect.  Don't repeat examples.  If other students have used your examples, you can discuss your interpretation of the effects by replying in the comments.


For example: We know that this play is called The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, and there are numerous warnings and portents that Caesar's murder is coming.  We know that Caesar is doomed, but he doesn't seem aware.  This is dramatic irony.


In describing the effect, we might consider: What do you think about Caesar's character?  Do you feel more sympathetic toward him knowing he is doomed to die?  Or does he just seem like a stubborn fool,  walking to his own death?


Begin describing effect in terms of your feelings toward the character.

For all discussions of literary elements, I want you all to begin going further and considering: What does this element "do" here?  For example, doctors can begin by identifying.  "This cell here in the pancreas is a cancer cell."  But doctors must go further if they want to treat that cancer.  They must consider: "What does this cancer cell do?  How does it affect the surrounding cells?  How does it affect the organ, and the person?"

     Literature is not exactly like biology.  But a clear sign to me that you understand the form and function of a text, is your ability to describe the effects on you as a reader.

Bonus: In The Oatmeal comic, what is ironic about the Oatmeal's final thought on irony?  

On Irony (Periods 2-3)

Click the link to open the pdf file: The Three Most Common Uses of Irony.  (The Oatmeal is the name of the comic, and the artist also refers to himself as "The Oatmeal.") You can post here.


This comic covers dramatic, situational, and verbal irony.  Read the comic and reread Act III Scene i.  Identify at least three examples of irony from the text and describe the effect.  Don't repeat examples.  If other students have used your examples, you can discuss your interpretation of the effects by replying in the comments.


For example: We know that this play is called The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, and there are numerous warnings and portents that Caesar's murder is coming.  We know that Caesar is doomed, but he doesn't seem aware.  This is dramatic irony.


In describing the effect, we might consider: What do you think about Caesar's character?  Do you feel more sympathetic toward him knowing he is doomed to die?  Or does he just seem like a stubborn fool,  walking to his own death?


Begin describing effect in terms of your feelings toward the character.

For all discussions of literary elements, I want you all to begin going further and considering: What does this element "do" here?  For example, doctors can begin by identifying.  "This cell here in the pancreas is a cancer cell."  But doctors must go further if they want to treat that cancer.  They must consider: "What does this cancer cell do?  How does it affect the surrounding cells?  How does it affect the organ, and the person?"

     Literature is not exactly like biology.  But a clear sign to me that you understand the form and function of a text, is your ability to describe the effects on you as a reader.

Bonus: In The Oatmeal comic, what is ironic about the Oatmeal's final thought on irony?  

Questions and Comments for Act III (periods 8-9)

Please review the directions from the previous post on "Unanswered Questions." Your task is the same: post questions or Ah-HA! momments and comment on another student's post.

Questions and Comments for Act III (periods 2-3)

Please review the directions from the previous post on "Unanswered Questions." Your task is the same: post questions or Ah-HA! momments and comment on another student's post.

Information on Caesar Performances

Check this post for updated links to information.

Throughout the Caesar unit we will be comparing several performances of Shakespeare's text.  When comparing different forms (film, radio, cartoon, etc.) it is important to distinguish from the text and a performance of the text.

Think of Shakespeare's text as a musical score.  The score provides direction (how fast or slow to play, for example) and the content (the musical notes).  However, when a violinist performs this score, this is unique interpretation.

When you say "Cassius seems jealous of Caesar"; you are describing Shakespeare's text. 

When you refer to the Radio play, use the actor's name: "Colin McFarlane's Cassius sounded much more sinister than I imagined when reading the play."  Colin McFarlane is the actor who performs Cassius.

1.     Information on Radio Caesar.

Radio Shakespeare (Periods 8-9)

Below is a link to the radio performance of Julius Caesar. 


Task: 
1. Review your notes from Friday's class about tone and shifts in tone.  How did your group imagine Cassius and Brutus?


2. Play the audio file.  (I.i.113-220 begins at about 9 minutes into the recording). Listen to the tone of the actors.  
     Begin with Cassius.  Describe the shifts in tone employed by the actor.
     Listen again for Brutus. Describe the shifts in tone employed by the actor.


3. Write a response. Due Monday.  Post your response in the Comments section.
      Compare and Contrast the choices made by your group and the choices of the actors.
      From the radio performance: How do the shifts in tone indicate the tactics being used?


Opening the file: When you click on the link it will open a separate page.
Radio Julius Caesar

Update: If you are having trouble playing the file, I cut an alternate mp3 to include only Act I.  
Act I

Radio Shakespeare (Periods 2&3)

Below is a link to the radio performance of Julius Caesar. 


Task: 
1. Review your notes from Friday's class about tone and shifts in tone.  How did your group imagine Cassius and Brutus?


2. Play the audio file.  (I.i.113-220 begins at about 9 minutes into the recording). Listen to the tone of the actors.  
     Begin with Cassius.  Describe the shifts in tone employed by the actor.
     Listen again for Brutus. Describe the shifts in tone employed by the actor.


3. Write a response. Due Monday.  Post your response in the Comments section.
      Compare and Contrast the choices made by your group and the choices of the actors.
      From the radio performance: How do the shifts in tone indicate the tactics being used?


Opening the file: When you click on the link it will open on the same page.  The file is large, so be patient.
radio Julius Caesar

Update: If you are having trouble playing the file, I cut an alternate mp3 to include only Act I.  
Act I

Citing Shakespeare in MLA

Here's a concise guide for citing lines and passages from Shakespeare in MLA format.

Periods 8&9: Unanswered Questions for Acts I & II

Our class time is short.  There many questions and insights that result from classwork and homework.  I don't want your ideas to go unnoticed.


Your task: 
     1. Review your notes and annotations from Acts I & II.  
What questions remain unanswered?  Are you confused about the events of a particular scene?  The meaning of a particular line?  Maybe there's a word and you just can't find a definition that makes sense in context. 
           Or...
Share one of those "Ah-HA!" moments.  Maybe there was a passage you couldn't make sense of.  You came back to it.  You reread those lines.  You read those lines again.  And again.  You went to your dictionary.  But the events still weren't clear.  So you wrote out a question and...Ah-HA!  It clicked.  And you understand this passage in a whole new way.  Tell us about your insight.


2. Click on the comments link below this post.  Read through the questions and comments of your classmates.  Post your questions and insights, with the relevant line notations (for ex: II.ii.999).


3. Comment on another student's comment.  Click on reply directly under the student's comment.


IMPORTANT: Make sure your commenting on the right post.  This post is for the morning class, periods 8 & 9.

Periods 2&3: Unanswered Questions for Acts I & II

Our class time is short.  There many questions and insights that result from classwork and homework.  I don't want your ideas to go unnoticed.


Your task: 
     1. Review your notes and annotations from Acts I & II.  
What questions remain unanswered?  Are you confused about the events of a particular scene?  The meaning of a particular line?  Maybe there's a word and you just can't find a definition that makes sense in context. 
           Or...
Share one of those "Ah-HA!" moments.  Maybe there was a passage you couldn't make sense of.  You came back to it.  You reread those lines.  You read those lines again.  And again.  You went to your dictionary.  But the events still weren't clear.  So you wrote out a question and...Ah-HA!  It clicked.  And you understand this passage in a whole new way.  Tell us about your insight.


2. Click on the comments link below this post.  Read through the questions and comments of your classmates.  Post your questions and insights, with the relevant line notations (for ex: II.ii.999).


3. Comment on another student's comment.  Click on reply directly under the student's comment.


IMPORTANT: Make sure your commenting on the right post.  This post is for the morning class, periods 2 & 3.

Caesar Wordle