Monday, March 26, 2012
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)?
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One element that I notice a lot in Shakespeare's writing is his way of building the plot through the interaction of Cassius and Brutus. We are revealed a lot of what's going on and what is going to happen through the dialogue between them, in this case Cassius and Brutus. For example, we saw how Caesar was when Cassius was talking to Brutus in Act 1 Scene 2. We were revealed by Cassius how Caesar wasn't as great of a person before and now seems like a god. Also we were given a clue about how Cassius felt about Caesar and how that would affect later decisions, as we know, would lead to the assassination of Julius Caesar in the Capitol. Also through Brutus' words when he is speaking to Cassius, we were revealed how Brutus felt about Caesar which we know wasn't as strong a hatred as Cassius at the time. We also learned, through Cassius, that Brutus was Caesar's friend and that affected how things played out in the future when Caesar said, "Et tu Brute," which means "And you , Brutus," because he was his friend as Cassius had said.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the effect of watching the movie was greater than the effect of reading the book because in the movie, you can actually see many things and you get a more powerful message because you actually hear the words being spoken as if you are actually witnessing the story. When you read the book, you need to conjure up an image of how the story would look like and create a voice for each of the characters whereas in the movie, all of those things have been provided for you and you just need to sit and watch. You also enjoy it a little more.
One element i have noticed in shakepspearean tragedy is that shakespeare ingroduces alot of abnormal events or conditions. For example, in the beginning of the play, a soothsayer comes up to caesar and tells him to beware the ides of march. Although this may not seem "abnormal", a soothsayer doesnt just come up to you everyday and telk you to beware of march 15th. Also, there was a storm. In Act I, scene iii, a terrible storm is brewing outside, symbolically reflecting the growing conspiracy afoot to murder Caesar. Also, one of the most obvious "abnormal" event is the ghost of "caesar" visiting brutus. Its not everyday someone gets visited by a ghost.
ReplyDeleteWhen i was reading julius caesar the text, i couldn't tell where the characters where expressing their emotins. Also, i couldn't tell where the characters where raising their voice or if they were gentle. On the other hand, when i was watching the film, i had a much much better idea of the characters emotion even though we only watched an excerpt. In the film, the character's expressions were expressed perfectly. Also, it provided a visual of what was going on and made the whole play alot better.
One way Shakespeare reveals characters and meaning is through dialogue. We learned that in a tragic hero story, dialogue tells us the most of what is to come, and we get more information about everything in the story. Since Shakespeare's store is based on dialogue, we get all the information from this, so he directly uses this method. We also find out a sense of who is the hero and why from the dialogue. For example, in Act 4 scene 3, we witness a ghost of Caesar talking to Brutus. This tells us the fall of the "hero," Brutus.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the play, watching the video, or listening to the radio version, we get different we get different experiences. The radio performance focuses on tone, so it tells us more about the character, Mark Antony, from this. We learn he is utterly angry and a bit sad. From the video, we see that he is angry overall, yet in reading the actual play, we think that he is angry, sad, and a wide range of other emotions not shown as much.
One element that is clearly prevalent in Shakespeare’s writing is irony. Shakespeare uses both situational and dramatic irony to show a reversal of fate for the characters - this helps to add to the tragedy of the myth. For example, situational irony was prevalent in Act III, scene i when Caesar died under Pompey’s statue, since Pompey was the man that Caesar fought and killed to get to where he was. Another use of irony is the use of portents in Act I and II to signify an event - although the characters in the play cannot figure out their meaning, the audience, through use of dramatic irony, immediately understands that it refers to the death of Caesar. From this use of irony, the tragedy of the play increases - for example, the death of Caesar is also compounded by the sad fact that he fell under the statue of someone he killed to get power. The use of irony also helps to show certain aspects of the characters in the play, such as their inability to predict the true meaning of the portents when shown in Act I and II.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the text of the play, I see what the text and stage direction is, but I am not able to see the actual emotions of the characters. When I listen to the audio file, however, I can hear the emotions of the characters through shifts in tone. Even though I cannot see what the characters are doing, I can hear their emotions. In the video, however, I can really see what the characters are doing, and the emotions they are putting into their words through body gestures and shifts in tone. This, I believe, gives me a better experience than reading or listening to audio because for those, I had to imagine what the characters were doing, but with the video I could see and hear what they were doing.
Since plays mostly consist of dialogue, Shakespeare mostly uses dialogue to show off his characters. Dialogue can hint a character’s perpetual mood and positive and negative traits.
ReplyDeleteDialogue affects the reader by giving him an emotion to relate to. Maybe the reader had felt a way that he imagines the character feeling at the time. The reader can put himself or herself in place of the character and better understand the character's point of view.
1. In the play Julius Caesar, Shakespeare used the literary device of dialogue to reveal to the reader how the character really feels about a particular situation. Beneath the dialogue, though, irony and foreshadowing is used. In a way, the way that the play plays out makes me realize how clueless characters in the play really are.
ReplyDelete2. When I read the text of the play Julius Caesar, the actual stage direction and stage itself played out in my mind in a very different way from that of a radio play or a film. Tones and words that were stressed were not the same and that kind of throws me off because of how many different ways someone can say a line and how different of a meaning each way of saying the line can portray the feeling of the character.
1. While reading the play Julius, I noticed that there the element of repetition. Many things keep being repeated and showed their importance to the reader and possible the characters. An example can be the ides of March which were repeated to tell Caesar that it was a bad day for him.
ReplyDelete2. I believe that watching the video changed my views on how imagined the characters and changed the way I saw some actions. I saw as the actions of the conspiracy weaker when they murdered Caesar. The way the camera looked at the characters gave a different perspective and made you view the character as higher or lower. You can sometimes see Caesar as lower in power than the conspiracy like when the conspiracy was murdering him. The way the actors acted and said some lines from the play gave a different view to how the character acted and when he/she showed a certain action or emotion.
1- Shakespeare primarily uses dialogue between characters to reveal character, plot, and meaning. Most of the plot was formed by he dialogue between Cassius and Brutus. Their conversations also show each other's personalities, the good and the bad in every one of the characters. Shakespeare's use of dialogue shapes his famous Tragedies.
ReplyDelete2- When I read the text of the play, I get the time to visualize what is going on, but I am not able to see the emotions of the characters, I can visualize them, but I may not see all the emotions that are prevalent in the characters. When I listen to the audio file, I can hear the characters, and capture the emotions through the shifts in tone. In the video, I can see the characters' emotions through their body gestures and shifts in tone. I think watching the video betters my understanding of the play rather than reading or listening to audio because I don't have to imagine anything, or visualize what is going on.
-----------------1.It is no question that Shakespeare incorporates many literary elements into his play. The usage of figurative language is an example of one of the literary elements used in the play. I wanted to point out that it was helpful in placing emphasis on inanimate objects, making them appear frightening and fearful in the play. For example, in Act 1, Scene 2, line 129, Cassius said, “His coward lips did from their color fly, and that same eye whose bend doth awe the world did lose his luster.” From this line, I thought that Caesar was actually more of a dumb loser who relied on Cassius to save him from drowning. If Cassius had just merely said that Caesar’s lips lost color, I would not have noticed the intensity and emphasis on Caesar’s character. When I read that the color flew from the coward lips, I imagined Caesar’s lips suddenly turning red. This was also very helpful for in picturing the scene. Also, in Act 2, Scene 2, line 47, Caesar said, “Danger knows full well that Caesar is more dangerous than he.” I felt that Caesar was being arrogant by saying that he is more dangerous than danger itself. This reveals his ignorance at the omens and his fearlessness. I noticed that figurative language placed a lot of emphasis and gave more negative, hateful feelings on character descriptions.
ReplyDelete----------------2.Even though watching a film, listening to a radio play, or seeing an image is quite different from reading the text. There were also some good advantages to each one of them. While I was watching the movie, I was able to place myself in the “characters’ shoes” and feel their anger, pain, or fear. The movie is more 3-D and thorough in describing events such as Antony’s speech and showing how characters looked like. I found that some of the characters were similar in voice and face, to the characters that I imagined in my head. When I read a book, it’s hard to get a grip on everything going on in the book because I couldn’t fully picture the scenes in my head. There are barely physical descriptions of most of the characters so I find myself having to use my imagination to picture them. However, I was able to understand their dialogues more easily because I could read their lines and not miss out any detail. For example, when I watched Antony’s speech, I could not understand the words he were saying but when I read the lines from his speech, I noticed all the repetition (“Brutus is an honorable man”) and the fury in his speech. The radio play was similar to the movie because I could detect the tones in the voices especially Cassius’ voice. Overall, I think watching a movie is especially entertaining in watching the actions and more understandable than reading the text.
One literary element Shakespeare uses is repetition. he uses irony in many parts of the book. In Scene 3 act 2 page 121, Antony uses repetition to show that Brutus is wrong about Caesar's ambition to be king. He continues to say Honorable Brutus but then he contradicts Brutus's words. The effect it puts on us the reader is that it shows us that Antony is opposing Brutus. The effect he puts on the crowd is even bigger. The crowd of Plebeians get mad and think of Brutus as an enemy.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the text, i thought about a huge riot occurring and Antony is speaking in a low yet aggressive voice. While watching the movie, Antony seems sad and depressed.