Discussion questions (week 9)

Discussion questions are back! In case you have forgotten their rules, my expectations are as follows:

• Before discussion you will spend about an hour reviewing your notes, rereading portions of the play, and thinking through answers to these questions.
• You will type and print your answers so that, in theory, I might be able to call on you in discussion on Friday and you will be ready with an answer. (Historically, I haven't called on people; still, I like having this as a threat.)

There are two questions for this week:

1. Take any speech in H5 as your own -- it doesn't have to be as long as the Archbishop's speech that we looked at on Friday, but it should be at least 30 lines. Look at the speech for four things:
   1. How and why does it use repetition?
   2. How does it try to persuade its audience?
      
   3. In a more general sense, how does it suggest the techniques by which language asserts power?
   4. How does the speech respond to, create, and transform metaphors that exist elsewhere in the scene or the play?
      
   
   
   
2. Put together an outline of Henry V by act, noting the setting, main characters and main action for each scene. This should take about ten minutes. Spend fifteen or twenty minutes thinking about the logic of this organization. Why does Shakespeare fly us around so much? Why do we jump to the French side when we do? Why do we get scenes with the barfolk when we do? Why do we get scenes with Katherine and Alice when we do?
   

Essay 2 assignment

Here, in case you wanted it, is a PDF of the assignment for the second mini-essay and the second essay.

Following the plot

I realize that our discussion on Friday was more than a bit fragmented. If you are baffled by Henry V, let me suggest three techniques that might help you tackle the text a bit more easily:

1. Read a summary of the play before or at the same time that you read the script. Prof. Dubrow has written study guides for each of the plays we are tackling this semester, which are all online here. If you are interested in detailed scene-by-scene summaries there are, obviously, dozens of options out there. After a quick survey of the options, I have to say that I prefer the Cliffs Notes scene-by-scene summaries of Henry V, available for free online, which seem generally more accurate and articulate than other versions I could easily find. (Ignore their pedantic "commentary," of course.)
   
   
2. It is usually ideal to read the script before watching a movie adaptation of the play so that your reading isn't influenced by any one interpretation of the text. Still, if you are having trouble understanding the characters, arguments, or plots of Henry V it might be worth watching a movie version before you have finished reading, so that the play seems like more than page after page of dull political speeches.
   
   
3. I know I've been advocating this every week, but I'm serious: if you get the audiobook versions of these plays and listen to them either when you're just walking around campus or if you sit down and listen to the audio while you follow along in the script you will become far, far more comfortable with the content of the plays.

It goes without saying, I hope, that the single best way to master any of these plays is to reread them -- twice, if that's possible. Remember that you will be responsible at 7:30 pm on Dec. 21st for every line of Henry V. Unless you have an eidetic memory you won't be remembering every line after one quick reading.

Germaine Greer on Shakespeare's wife

If you are into podcasts and what we know about the biography of Shakespeare, you might want to check out Germaine Greer's aggressive defense of Anne Hathaway in this podcast from the Guardian Unlimited Book Club. As with any Shakespeare biography -- and Greer acknowledges this in the podcast -- we have to be more than a little suspicious of claims that cannot, ultimately, be rooted in any sort of evidence. Still, this is worth a listen if you have the time and inclination.

Office hours this week

To clarify the 800 emails I've been sending out in the last few days, my office hours for this week (and this week only) are

• Noon to 2 pm on Tuesday in the Open Book Cafe (on the first floor of College Library)
  
• 3:30 to 5:30 pm on Thursday at the Fair Trade Coffee House
  

Reviewing for the midterm

The midterm that is coming up this Thursday is going to be fairly difficult. Prof. Dubrow and I have done what we can to prepare you for it, but the rest of the work lies with you: we expect your exam essay to prove that you have taken the time to master the texts we have covered so far. How, though, do you prepare for an essay exam?

Here, loyal blog readers, is how I would prepare:

1. Begin by reviewing your notes. Type up a list of terms and a list of themes that have come up in regard to MSND, MoV, and the sonnets. Don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions about terms or themes.
   
2. Look in your notes for hints about how to read passages from these texts: in what ways, for example, has Prof. Dubrow discussed the theme of time in the sonnets?
3. Next, review the texts themselves. This doesn't have to be time-consuming if you approach the rereading process carefully:
   • Don't reread everything -- you won't pick up much that way; instead, spend your time on one or two carefully-chosen scenes for each play, and maybe on three sonnets.
     
   • Choose scenes that seem like they could be useful for answering any sort of question about the play, and, if you can, choose scenes that haven't yet been covered in class and that you think will distinguish you from your peers.
     
   • Really get to know those scenes and those sonnets inside and out: how can you use that theme to discuss substitution? protection? exchange? time? desire? the performance of gender? the problems and advantages of the theatre? of comedy? of lyric?
   • If you are the sort of person who can, memorize a line or two from each scene. There's nothing more impressive than seeing a well-used quotation in an essay exam -- as long as you're not just tossing it in there because, dammit, you've memorized the thing, but because it has some real value for your argument.
     
4. Once you've done this, get together with one or two classmates. (If you want to form a study group but don't have any likely partners on whom to call, let me know and I can send an email out to both discussions.)
   • With your study group, hash out as many thematic connections as you can between the texts.
     
   • Make up essay questions -- How does X relate to Y? is a good format, where X and Y are themes -- and trying to find the most interesting ways to answer them with reference to the details (NOT THE PLOT) of the two plays and the sonnets.
   • Talk through a list of details -- metaphors and other imagery, rhythmic styles (e.g. the chant-like meter of the fairies in MSND), symbols, famous ("If you prick us, do we not bleed?" etc.) and not-so-famous lines, etc. -- from the plays and sonnets that you might be able to use for a whole range of essay questions.
   • Then sit down and write out a whole essay. Give yourselves 40 minutes, with 5 minutes for planning an outline, and share the results with the group. What are some strong tactics that you used? How might you organize your time more effectively?
     
   
   

Free audio of Shakespeare monologues

Librivox is a project dedicated to creating and publishing online free audio versions of public domain texts. Although they don't seem to have any complete Shakespearean texts, they do have a number of monologues and a couple dozen sonnets. While not a perfect resource -- Librivox texts are read by volunteers, and hence the quality of their recordings varies -- this might be the tool you need to keep the language, themes, and emotional affect of these texts at the front of your mind as you prepare for the midterm.