Lit II. Drama: A Small Family Business

Hello, everybody!

Let´s make use of the benefits of net-learning again. Read carefully and follow instructions closely.

As you may remember, we have not had the time to discuss the quotations that are related to the issues I posted on the blog on June 23. See below and you´ll find a list of issues. I´d like everybody to keep a record of all the quotations that we may deem interesting or relevant, therefore you have two choices here:

1. Re read the play and find the quotations for yourself, jot them down and keep a reader´s log. In this way, you´ll profit from knowing the play very well. (**NB the test will include all the quotations and issues, ok?)
2. Exchange quotes with your friends and make sure you have two or three quotations for each issue mentioned. Do NOT email these to me, just check that your friend´s findings make sense, and keep a copy of everything in your folder, for further use in classwork when we meet again.


As to the themes, which I also posted on June 23, here´s what we´ll do:

Read the play again, paying special attention to three of those themes, those that appeal to you the most. If you want to save time, you can read Act I, close the book, and jot down everything(characters, action, language used, ironic situations, setting) that may be related to the themes in question. Then read Act II, and do the same. (NB **the test will include all the themes, ok?)

Take three themes and think how these themes are relevant today, in Buenos Aires, in your family or friends. How is the situation similar or different? Which themes are outdated, no longer valid? Which are still to be seen in our society?

HW for Tuesday July 14: Write a paragraph stating your views on the relevance of the play to porteño readers in July 2009. Account for what you say with quotations from the text.


HW for Thursday July 16: To be done individually*(Am I clear enough?)
When re reading the play you MUST have realised that a phrase or a situation had a different meaning from the one you understood the first time you read the play. Write two paragraphs stating what you discovered during your second reading. Say what effect this had on you.

*Mind you, you are different people with different interests and different personalities. Do not email your answer to this piece of HW to anyone in any class, I want to read original ideas, is this clear? We have already discussed this issue, haven´t we?
Keep your answer a secret!!

Remember there will be a **test on ASFB in August 18/20(2nd D, both days). Use the suggested exercises to really really know the play.

EXTRA WORK: optional!! Alan Ayckbourn uses the aesthetics of computer programs for the design of the set. If you happen to be a computer wiz, you may design the set on the computer, i.e. the different houses and rooms will open by clicking on them, just as a powerpoint presentation....how about this idea?We shall then add the dialogue, and there we are...fantastic isn´t it?
Doing this will obviously be considered extra work, and rewarded accordingly.

Please e-mail your answers to gabymasson@gmail.com

LIT III-Poetry: MONOLOGUE Hone Tuwhare

Hi, everybody! Here we go again, this time I´ll ask you to follow my instructions closely. Bear with me, you´ll see how much you´ll learn.

To begin with, close the door of your bedroom, get paper and pen, ask not to be interrupted for 10 minutes, (turn off your celular phone, come on! Nothing much will be missed in only 10, ten, minutes!!) and write whatever comes to your head, no matter how crazy and incoherent your thoughts might be.Don´t apply self-censorship... Don´t worry, I shan´t ask you to hand THAT in. Try writing in English, but the purpose of the "game" will be served as well if you cannot do it in English, and you do it in your own mother tongue. So, there you are, STOP and do it. Don´t keep on reading until you´ve found the time to write your thoughts.


MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMTHOUGHTS THOUGHTS THOUGHTS.......

NB the picture above is not related to the poem, I used it to prevent you from keeping on reading! It´s in Segovia, by the way...

READY? Are you sure you´ve done your 10´writing? Ok, re read it now. Can you trace your train of thought? Did you go philosophical at any time? Were you brave enough to write your fears? Your desires? Well done!! You can tear the paper now, if you don´t want anyone to read it! or you can WAIT till you finish working with Hone Tuwhare´s MONOLOGUE ( SoS page 124, poem number 81)

First get first hand knowledge of the poem i.e. read it! As usual, try and foresee what the poem will be about, by predicting from the title, by stopping a second and writing whatever comes to your mind when you read: MONOLOGUE

What´s implied? How many voices? Why is he delivering this monologue? Is there a listener? Why the word "monologue"? Do you associate it with drama? with the theatre? What would this add?

N.B. from now onwards, I might be using some ideas suggested by CIE to deal with the poem. I just want to acknowledge this. (No plagiarism!!)

Before reading the following notes, please read the poem once or twice. Jot down ideas. Do not worry at this stage if you don´t understand every word, ok?

Here´s some help with vocabulary:

Line 11: kneading: a word usually used to describe the action of working flour to
make bread. Here it is the same action but in an engineering setting.
Lines 18-19: the casual recognition shows his awareness of a sort of brotherhood of
workers, crossing all barriers.
Line 31: notice that the word is dying not death, which would have been very ironic.
Dying, however, is not a permanent state. It suggests, perhaps, that the industry is
dying.
Line 42: the words, you know at the end might be interpreted or spoken in a variety
of ways. It could be seen as just emphasising the conversational style, to seek to
engage the reader, as a plea for understanding, or it could be seen as an aggressive
challenge to anyone who would dare contradict the speaker. You should be
encouraged to explore these (and other) possibilities.

Now, you should try reading the poem out loud one or two times first. Try to vary tone of voice as you read, perhaps changing it at each new section, as different aspects of thoughts and feelings emerge. Try to imagine he is just talking in ordinary conversation in a work-break with you. This exercise will help you build up impressions of the character in the poem by close attention both to what he says and how he says it.

At this point, write down your first impressions of this man. Why do you think he wants to be near the door in reality?

Consider the place of work and his feelings towards it. What is the atmosphere in the workshop that the persona is trying to recreate? Do you think he likes it, tolerates it, hates it, or has mixed feelings? Look at the language used in this part and your previous observations to support your viewpoint.

Read the last sentence of the third stanza and the description of those who are in authority: his supervisors/fireman perhaps. How does the way this is phrased add to your impressions of his personality and his reasons for wanting to be near the door? Do you find any humour in this? Add your observations to your first impressions already noted down.

4th stanza: • What do the words ‘drift’ and ‘looking' show about the prospective workers
and their hopes? The way the persona interacts with them also needs some
attention. Thins about this and add observations to the notes that you are compiling, remembering to consider not only what is said but also how it is said.

How does Tuwhare communicate the impact of seeing the look of hopelessness in their eyes on the speaker in the poem? Look very closely at the structure of the sentence (the order of the words) beginning 'The look on the faces of the unlucky…'

Spend time thinking about what the attitude of this man is to his work. What does it mean to him in his life? It would be wonderful to exchange views on this, maybe you can email each other your impressions? Remember to read the notes I handed out as photocopies. There is some info on the effects of unemployment on a person´s psychology. Talk to your parents or related grownups about unemployment, it might help you enrich your outlook on this serious issue.

Does the next stanza (the first to be conventionally laid out in lines) say something about the nature of industry or the personality of the narrator or both? What is the effect of the word dying, and the sentence that leads up to it, and the three dots after it? Does this part in any way resemble your own "monologue", or thoughts? I mean the one you wrote before reading the poem... In what way? Share this experience please, either via mail or in class when we meet. Jot down your ideas, you might forget them by the time we next meet.

What evidence is there in the way he continues to narrate his story that he has a need to block out these thoughts from his mind?

The last stanza gives yet another reason for working near the main door. Is this a convincing reason? What does it show about his state of mind? Is he insecure? Does he need an escape? What is the tone of voice that should be used to read this out? How should the final question (you know?) be read? What is the effect of this final question?

• Explore and discuss some of the ways (e.g. layout and length of lines) in which Monologue might seem different from a ‘conventional’ poem. What do you think of these and how does this affect the way you read (and read out) the poem?

Background
Hone Tuwhare was born in Kaikhoe, New Zealand in 1922. As well as poetry he has written plays and fiction. He has been the scourge of injustices everywhere; he is particularly well known for his support of Maori land claims and for his committed socialism. It is important, however, not to leap to conclusions on the basis of his Maori background. Those who have been at his poetry readings have observed that when he has read this poem, Monologue, he has adopted the voice of an elderly Scotsman. This is the character it is based on, a man with whom he once worked in a railway workshop when he was a boilermaker.

HW: I would like you to write a monologue, pretending to be an Argentinian blue-collar worker made redundant in the last ten years. For this, you may have to do some research on our country´s 2001/2002 economic crisis. Learn about a particular situation, any industry will do, and write a similar monologue to this one. Do not tell me everything, let me read between the lines. It needn´t be very long, just make sure I guess what the man is going through.Deadline: July 15 . E-mail your monologue to gabymasson@gmail.com

Thematic links with set poems: you will be asked to notice links like these in the exam, as you have already read some of the following poems, you might start jotting down ideas or lines that suggest these thematic links, for further use in the course of the year...
Work: Carpet-weavers; Morocco; Song to the Men of England;
Muliebrity; Farmhand
Portrait of a character: Muliebrity; Plenty; Farmhand; She dwelt among the
untrodden ways
First person narration: Little Boy Crying; Spectator ab Extra; Plenty