prompt revising #3

1975 Also. Unlike the novelist, the writer of a play does not use his own voice and only rarely uses a narrator's voice to guide the audience's responses to character and action. Select a play you have read and write an essay in which you explain the techniques the playwright uses to guide his audience's responses to the central characters and the action. You might consider the effect on the audience of things like setting, the use of comparable and contrasting characters, and the characters' responses to each other. Support your argument with specific references to the play. Do not give a plot summary.

Edward Albee wrote the famous play, "The American Dream", in which he portrays a little American family that is greatly concerned with materialism, consumerism, and sexuality. The use of his characters and text creates a message and a voice that was meant to show his ideas of the real "american dream". The setting, and characteristics of the characters shows the effect of obsession with materialism, consumerism, and sexuality and how it truly impacts our society.

The setting takes place in the home of Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma. Grandma is a kind character, and she represents the old American dream by the way she is being pushed away from the family. When the young man shows up, he is representing the new american dream. He is young, fresh, and attractive, which is exactly what Mommy and Daddy are searching for in themselves. Having a differential between generations and the values of those generations, provides an idea of a changing society. Grandma and the young man are the perfect representatives of the changing society.

 The way that Mommy is obsessed with materials shows the idea that America is caught up in materialism and consumerism. Mommy ensures that Daddy is listening to her story about "buying a new hat yesterday" (58). The home and the people living in the home interact with each other in a way that represents society. In society, many people are concerned with image and how it impacts them socially, and many people yearn for attention. Mommy forces Daddy to pay attention to her, and is VERY enthusiastic about her new hat.

Albee is attempting to give a new perspective to the way society is changing and what people are now accepting as "The American Dream".

"Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" Analysis 3/11

Summary: The play begins with the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (R and G) flipping a coin in the woods. The coin repetitively comes up heads, never tails, and they begin to discuss the probability of this actually occurring. Have they entered an alternate world, or has time simply stopped? Eventually, they meet the Players in the woods that invite them to join their work, and as the play shifts into the players work, the coin comes up tails. Next, we find that the play as shifted to the setting of Elsinore in Shakespeare's "Hamlet". While they are here, their identities are confused and they find themselves confused on their quest to figure out the cause of Hamlet's madness. They then find themselves aboard a ship, where they hear of their fate to die, and the play closes with the closing of "Hamlet".

Author: Stoppard was born to  a Jewish family, but was adapted into British culture during World Ward II. He was a theater critic and then began his writing when he won awards for "R and G".

Setting: Begins in the woods with the coin and Players and shifts to Elsinore and "Hamlet"

Characters:
      Rosencrantz: easy-going, happy, carefree, confused, simple but efficient, positive
     Guildenstern: anxious, concerned deeply, desperately seeks answers, searches for reason, despairing

Narrative Voice and Style: There is repetitive language and short concise syntax where it is easy to be misunderstood and defines R and G's relationship. Confusion and Loss of time symbolizes the world and life within. Time is lost for all of us.

Quotes: "Words, words. They're all we have to go on." This shows that language is complex and challenging. Within drama, there is word play for comic effect and humor, and without words, it would be difficult to express oneself.

"Audiences know what to expect, and that is all they are prepared to believe in." This is a view of theater in reality, if something on stage is predictable then it is believable and enjoyable. Life can be portrayed as a larger version of the theater.

Theme: "R and G" show the difficulty in understanding the world around us. There is much improbability and coincidence in life, that capturing the meaning of the world and life is difficult. Does everything happen for a reason, or are we actually real? These are the questions that are hard to grasp, and "R and G" portrays this difficulty of grasping these concepts.

Course Material 3/10

This class seems to be getting more and more intense as the AP test aproaches. Maybe it's just senioritis, but I am feeling a little bit overwhelmed; however, the activities we do in class are really going to help for that test. The annotations, though tedious, are going to give me a boost when I have to analyze any sort of literature in the future. I decided that I would try annotating "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern" on my Mom's Kindle, and it was not as easy as you might think. I can be a little bit technologically challenged a lot of the time, but I kind of liked using the kindle. However, in the future, I found that its much easier to refer back to your annotations when they are in a book right in front of you, instead of on one page on a screen. Anyway, as usual DIDLS really helps get me through annotating. They are like the fundamentals of analyzing literature, and they definitely keep me on track. Also, the in class essays are definitely difficult, and I have trouble interpretting the prompts, but it is great practice for the AP test, of course! Everything seems to be connecting to that test! Even though I am feeling overwhelmed, I know that every assignment, essay, or post we do in class is relevent and has a purpose.