Thursday, September 15, 2011

15/9/2011.

1. Have you ever been betrayed?Give an example of when you were betrayed? How did you feel? What did you do?
Putting your trust and hope in someone can be the hardest things to do in life one may think until you finally do and get betrayed.
My first ever betrayal experience was brought about or caused by someone who I considered family, whom i placed my hope and trust in. Considering this young lady to be my 'elder sister', someone I could look up to, I never say it coming.Upon graduating from high school and moving away to college, distance became an issue between both of us. It was known that of course we weren't going to be able to spend as much time together as we were accustom, but not that our friendship would be lost because of it.
Eventually, we both grew off of each other and the constant phone calls and text messages became less and less until they finally stopped. This was so since we were both either 'too busy' for the other, or just plain out didn't want to converse. We eventually end what we both saw as our sisterly relationship and seized our friendship along with it.
After this decision, the rumors started and the name calling began. She began to spread malicious rumors of my character to others and began to call me all sorts of inappropriate name. I consulted her about her malicious acts which she boldly admitted to which lead to my decision of simply forgetting even if it meant hurting myself in the process. The sad part is...I never forgave her

2. Have you ever felt that you were betrayed and in the end misunderstood the situation?
Yes I have.
A situation occurred between myself and an elder cousin of mine which at the time I saw as betrayal. While attending High school, a mishap occurred between myself and my home room teacher Mrs.Francis which resulted in me being punished her way, detention. My mom usually threatened about me going to detention and what she would do to me if I do so I didn't want to tell her but I had to be smart. She would always pick me up after school but I just knew she couldn't on this day so I arranged to be pick up later and told her that I had group work to do after which would run late.I told my cousin about this incident since I felt like I could trust her but it wasn't so.
She called my mom right away and told her about my situation which lead to me being severely punished by my mother, being grounded for over 3 months.In the end I realized that they both just wanted what was best for me and even though at first I saw it as her betraying me, she explained that it was only in my best interest so that I wouldn't ever think about going back to detention.

3. Look at the various Shakespeare plays over the years that you have studied. Do you notice that characters in the text always seem to resort to violence, trickery or evilness? Comment.
A recount of various Shakespeare plays in which I have studied shows that the characters indeed always seem to resort to violence, trickery or evilness. This was always as a result of what is seen as Shakespeare's major themes such as love, betrayal and jealousy which her brought out through various characters. The reason for this may be because of the time period in which Shakespeare lived in which may be looked at as primitive or undeveloped. Reason being because of what is seen as a lack of justice system which lead to situations where justice isn't served fairly. Because of this, characters took it upon themselves to handle these situations on their own, taking justice into their own hands. It may also be for self gain on various characters part.
In the play Much Ado About Nothing, the readers see the act of trickery being played out in many different ways through varying characters for the reason of self gain or to sort what they say as justice for what ever reason. One see trickery at the very beginning of the play where Don Pedro woo's Hero for the sake of Claudio which is beneficial to  young Claudio. One also sees it where the character Don John, deceives Claudio into believing first that his brother Don Pedro was woo-ing Hero for his own self benefit, then into believing that Hero was unfaithful to him. Don John saw this as revenge on his half brother which can be seen as him taking justice into his own hands.

4. Look at the background of the text Winter's Tale. What is going on historically in the era that the book is written in.
The Winter's Tale was written by Shakespeare and originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Uncertain of its type, it was grouped with both comedies and tragedies by many including critics of Shakespeare. Being one of Shakespeare's popular plays, it was later revived in productions in various forms and adaptions. It was revived again in the 19th and 20th century with varying degrees of success.

5. What is the elizabethan Theatre. Historical back ground? Picture of the global theatre.
The Elizabethan Theatre or The Renaissance Theatre refers to the theatre of England, largely based in London, which occurred between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. 'The Theatre' as it was first constructed as was done so around the Elizabethan Era, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1 and is often considered to be the golden age in English history. It was the height of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of English poetry, music and literature. It was built just beyond the walls of Shoreditch in 1576 by James Burbage with his brother-in-law John Burbage which gave rise to the construction of many different theatres after such as The Globe (1599) which William Shakespeare became a co-owner of.




6. What is the theatre of the absurd? Videos, pictures
The Theatre of the Absurd is a theatrical style originating in France in the 1940'2. It relies heavily on existential philosophy and is a category for plays of absurdist fiction, written by a number of playwrights from the late 1940's to the 1960's as well as the theatre which has evolved from their work.



7. Synopsis of Williams Shakespeare? Life, work,plays he has written, tragedies, history, comedies and the time period that they were written in.

   William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet and actor, born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. Although his actual birth date was unclear, he was said to be born on April 23rd 1594, three days before h baptism on 26th April 1564. Born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, Shakespeare was the third of six children.
    Much details about Shakespeare's life was very sketchy. What is known of him is that he attended Stratford Grammar School, finished at age 15 and was married by the age of 18 to Anne Hathaway with whom he had three children with the first being Susanna followed by twins Hamnet and Judith.
    Between 1589 and 1613, Shakespeare produced most of his known work which consisted  mainly of comedies, histories, tragedies, sonnets and tragiccomedies. Some plays he has written include: Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew and Henry VI. It was noted that he had written 37 plays through Robert Green's criticism which attacked Shakespeare for competing with him and other playwrights callings him 'an upstart crow' and 157 sonnets.
    William Shakespeare was considered one of the best playwright of his time because not only did he create some of the most admired plays in Western literature but he also transformed English theatre by expanding expectations of what could be accomplished through characterisation, plot, action, language and genre. Also, because his plays has been translated into basically every major language and performed throughout the world.
        William Shakespeare died on April 23rd 1616 and was buried at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. His last words were, 'Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear
                           To digg the dust enclosed here!
                           Blest be ye man that spares the stones
                           And curst be he that moves my bones.'


Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Group work

    English Drama developed into a sophisticated and very popular art form guring the reign of Elizabeth I. Prior to this, theatre companies travelled about the country putting on plays wherever they could find an audience, performing in open courtyards of inns where spectators watched either from the ground or from balconies or galleries.
    The first theatre known to London was 'The Theather' located just beyond the city walls in Shoreditch which was build by an actor by the name of James Burbage. Burbage and other prominent and 'well-to-do' actors were often frowned upon by the city fathers but were widely popular with the common people who shouted loudly and insisted to see them perform in plays. They were also considered as rogues and vagabonds by some.
    In the year 1597, 'The Theatre' was closed by the city fathers. It was later dismantled and hauled to pieces by Richard Burbage, James son, and moved across to Southwark. After six months of rebuilding, it was then renamed 'The Globe'. Although noone really knows what the Globe looked like, scholars assume that it had a round or octagonal shape since Shakespeare refers to the building as 'this wooden O' in Henry V. The structure had to have been small enough to ensure that the actors would be heard, knowing that performance could draw audiences as large as 25,000 to 30,000 people. The structure had no sets or lighting so plays were performed in bright afternoon sunlight. 
    The Globe was deminished in 1613 when a cannon fired as part of a performance of Henry VIII, ignited the theatre's thatched, burning it to the ground. Everyone escaped unharmed. The theater was rebuilt but was later permenantly closed in 1642 by the Puritans. On June8, 1997, The New Globe was opened to its full season by an American actor named Sam Wanamakers.





Group Members:
Garicia Mack
Kamarie Jacobs
Dacia Benjamin
Arantxa Lewis
Brantella Williams

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Brother Man questions

  Between Bra Ambo & Brother Man- External
  Between Papcita & Girlie- External
  Between Brother Man & Cordelia- External
  Between Papcita & Brother Man- External


External conflict is the struggle between the protagonist and another character against nature or some outside force.

Internal conflict- disagreement or fighting within an organization or entity.

Types of irony
- Situational irony- what the opposite of what is expected to happen, happens.
- Dramatic irony- when the reader or audience are aware of something that the characters in the story are not.
-Verbal irony- In conversation, the speaker intends to be understood as meaning something that contrast with the literal or usual meaning of what he says.

The Religion of Rastafarian

   The Rastafarian movement cam about in Jamaica in the 1930's and arose in a christian culture. It is referred to as a way of life rather than as a religion by most Rastafarians who worship Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, former Emperor of Ethiopia and Jah, another incarnation of the Christian God. It proclaims Africa (Zion) as the original birthplace of mankind and embraces various Afrocentric social and political aspirations such as the socialpolitical views and teachings of Jamaican publicist, organizer and black nationalist Marcus Garvey.
   In the world today, awareness of Rastafarians movement has spread throughout much of the world through reggae music with one example being Jamaican singer/songwriter Bob Marley.


Biography on Roger Mais
    Roger Mais was a Jamaican journalist, novelist, poet and playwright who was born to a middle-class family in Kingston Jamaica on August 11, 1905. By 1951, Mais had won ten first prizes in West Indian literary competitions. He was awarded the high honor of the Order of Jamaica in 1978 for his intregal role in the developement of political and cultural nationalism.
    Mais career first started when he worked for the weekly newspaper 'Public Opinion' from 1939 to 1952. He wrote several plays, reviews and short stories for the newspaper Focus and the Jamaican Daily Gleamer focusing his articles on social injustice and inequality. He used this approach to reach his local audience and to primarily push for a national identity and anti-colonialism. In the 1940's. Mais published a play called George William Gordon which focused on the Moran Bay Rebellion of 1865 along with over a hundred short stories. Some of his work includes: Brother Man, and The Hills Were Joyful Together.
   
    

Shakespeare

   William Shakespeare was an English playwrght, poet and actor, born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. Although his actual birth date was unclear, he was said to be born on April 23rd 1594, three days before h baptism on 26th April 1564. Born to John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, Shakespeare was the third of six children.
    Much details about Shakespeares life was very sketchy. What is known of him is that he attended Stratford Grammar School, finished at age 15 and was married by the age of 18 to Anne Hathaway with whom he had three children with the first being Susanna followed by twins Hamnet and Judith.
    Between 1589 and 1613, Shakespeare produced most of his known work which consisted  mainly of comedies, histories, tragedies, sonnets and tragiccomedies. Some plays he has written include: Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew and Henry VI. It was noted that he had written 37 plays through Robert Green's criticism which attacked Shakespeare for competing with him and other playwrights callings him 'an upstart crow' and 157 sonnets.
    William Shakespeare was considered one of the best playwright of his time because not only did he create some of the most admired plays in Western literature but he also transformed English theatre by expanding expectations of what could be accomplished through characterisation, plot, action, language and genre. Also, because his plays has been translated into basically every major language and performed throughout the world.
    Shakespeare joined a theatrical company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men in 1594 during the reign of Elizabeth I of England which was called the Elizabethan era. The Elizabethan era was a time associated with Queen Elizabeth I's reign and is often considered to be the golden age in English history. It was the height of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of English poetry, music and literature. In 1599, the troupe moved to a new venue, The Globe Theatre south of the Thame in London.
    William Shakespeare died on April 23rd 1616 and was buried at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. His last words were, 'Good friend, for Jesus' sake forbear
                           To digg the dust enclosed here!
                           Blest be ye man that spares the stones
                           And curst be he that moves my bones.'

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Literary Terms

Forms of Prose Fiction
Novel- a book-lenght fictional prose narrative.

Short story- a brief fictional narrative in pose.

Novellers- applied to a story somewhat longer than a short story, but not long enough to be considered a novel.
Elements of Prose fiction
Narrative techniques- the method invovled in telling a story. It also conveys desired effects.

Point of view- the relationship of the narrator or storyteller to the story.

Setting- the time and place in which the events of a story, novel or play occurs.

Theme- the central message of a story, poem, novel or play that readers can apply to life.

Style- the authors choice and arrangements of words and sentences in a literary work.

Characterization- the methods of which a writer use to reveal the personality of a character.

Literary Devices
Imagery- the word pictures that writers create to help evoke an emotional response.

Symbol- an object, person, place or experience that means more that what it is.

Irony- a contrast or discepancy between appearance and reality or between what is expected or what actually happens.

Allusion- a reference in a work of literature to a character, place or situation from history or from another work of literature, music or art.

Satire-writting that exposes and ridicule the vices or follies of people or societies.

Structual Devices
Stream of conciousness- individual conscious experience regarded as a continuous series of occurances rather as seperate disconnected events.

Interior Monologue- a narrative technique or passage which suggests a characters stream of consciousness.

Flashback- an account of an event that happened before a story began.

Foreshadowing- the use of clues by the author to prepare readers for events that will happen later in the story.

Time Frame- a given interval of time especially in relatiion to a particular event or process.

Motif- a significant word, decripton, idea or image that is repeated.

Juxtaposition- to put side by side or close together.

Types of Fiction
  1. Fantasy- a story that can never happen; not realistic.
  2. Humorous fiction- a funny story written to make you laugh.
  3. Science fiction- is based on science and tells about supernatural events.
  4. Mystery- a story about something that needs to be solved.
  5. Traditional fiction- folk tales,fairy tales, myths and legends which are passed down orally throughout history.
  6. Historical fiction- a story that seems real and took place in the past. It may include people or events from the past but some of the story came from the author's imagination.
  7. Realistic fiction- a story which could have happened or seems real.
  8. Animal fiction- these contain characters that are animals or plots where the animal is an intregal part of the story.
Literary Context
Social- of or having to do with human beings living together as a group in a situation in which their dealings with one another affect their common welfare.

Political- of or concerned with government, the statement or politics.

Historical- of or concerned with history as a science.

Religious- characterized by adherence to religion or a religion.

Ethnic- designating or of a population subgroup having a commom cultural heritage as distinguished by customs, characteristics, language and common history.

Moral- a practical lesson about right and wrong conduct.

Intellectual- the ability to reason and understand or to perceive relationships.

Cultural- the training and refinement of the intellect, interest, taste, skills and arts.