Hey everybody! Good news, you're about to take Mrs. Duke's class. There are a few big points that are absolutley imperative that you know if you are going to be successful in Mrs. Duke's class. If you remember these things, than there is a good chance that you will be able to succeed in her class but if you get lazy and forget than bad things will happen.
Number 1: If you are not going to put a fair amount of effort and time into the doing the work that she gives you than the work is not worth doing. Mrs. Duke doesn't give you meaningless homework to do, so simply completing it without thinking about it or really trying to do it to the best of your ability is pointless. All the homework she gives you has a purpose and isn't effective if you don't put enough effort or time into it. Make sure that you give yourself enough time to do English every night, it really will help.
Number 2: Classroom discussions are just as important as homework. The discussions that we have in class are just as important to your understanding of the information as the homework that we do. So, try your best to be an engaged participant in classroom conversation because if you are, not only will you enjoy class more, you will also be better equipped to answer deeper questions about the topic which is very important in Mrs. Duke's class.
Number 3: When reading books for Mrs. Duke, actually read the books. Her class is nearly impossible to succeed in if you have not read the material she has asked you to read the way she asks you to read it. When we read in Mrs. Duke's class we aren't just reading, we are also looking for things in the book. We are looking for characteristics of that book's time period, themes in the book, important points that are made, and also whatever else Mrs. Duke tells you to look for. These things are very important to your understanding of the book as well as that of the material she teaches you in the class.
Number 4: Last but definitely not least, everything that Mrs. Duke does has a point. She never gives us anything that is not going to be important or that we are going to be able to forget. For example, if Mrs. Duke spends 3 days teaching something and going over it, you can probably figure out that it is important and that you are going to need to know that information. Mrs. Duke doesn't waste time either, she isn't mean and like, "all work all the time." She understands that we need breaks sometimes and she is willing to give them to us, but when it is time to work, don't dilly dally.
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Friday, May 16, 2014
Mini Essay
In both stories, the human condition is addressed, however, they say very different things about it. In Heart of Darkness we area shown how easily humans are able to praise ideas about someone especially whenever you have never met that person. Also, it shows us the human capacity for violence, driven only by employment. What Waiting for Godot tells us about the human condition is that it is simply made to exist. It is random and doesn't make sense most of the time on purpose. It is trying to show that life doesn't really have a meaning other than to live. It shows that people are just here to enjoy it and the human condition is just that, to be alive.
In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad we get a look at people from two angles. We get to see someone come to completley praise someone who they have never met and have only heard things about. It shows us how easily the human mind can be fooled into thinking that something is more than it is. That is exactly what we saw, the evolution of Kurtz from an idea that Marlow had which was the only thing that kept Marlow going as he continued down the river.He turned out to be just a normal, sickly man who was in very good with the natives. Another way that the novel addresses the human condition is how the natives were treated by the workers from the company. Cutting off of hands and other cruel forms of punishment all stemming from the need for the workers to work. It was so important that the ivory be collected and the money be made that it was worth the lives of people. However, the Europeans didn't view it them as people, it was still so.
In Heart of Darkness by Samuel Beckett something kind of extreme is said about the Human Condition. This is a play where nothing happens, it takes place in one place, the same time, and the characters do the same thing throughout the entirety of the play. The play tells us that human life has no meaning, but in real life humans will create distractions and diversions, trying to form patterns and purposes and meanings to get meaning in their life even if and when there is none. The two characters spend the whole play repeating themselves and acting foolish and saying random things all trying to tell us that life really has no meaning and we spend the whole thing trying to find out what it is. It is paradoxical I think.
In the two plays we have two things getting said about the human condition. On one side, we are told that humans are violent creatures who are able to completley praise something they know nothing about except stories. On the other side we are told that life has no meaning, and that people will try to pull a meaning out of it. it tells us that people, more than anything, need something concrete that they can believe in. As long as they know it's true(like the arrival of Godot) than they will cling to it. That is what the two stories tell us about the human condition.
In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad we get a look at people from two angles. We get to see someone come to completley praise someone who they have never met and have only heard things about. It shows us how easily the human mind can be fooled into thinking that something is more than it is. That is exactly what we saw, the evolution of Kurtz from an idea that Marlow had which was the only thing that kept Marlow going as he continued down the river.He turned out to be just a normal, sickly man who was in very good with the natives. Another way that the novel addresses the human condition is how the natives were treated by the workers from the company. Cutting off of hands and other cruel forms of punishment all stemming from the need for the workers to work. It was so important that the ivory be collected and the money be made that it was worth the lives of people. However, the Europeans didn't view it them as people, it was still so.
In Heart of Darkness by Samuel Beckett something kind of extreme is said about the Human Condition. This is a play where nothing happens, it takes place in one place, the same time, and the characters do the same thing throughout the entirety of the play. The play tells us that human life has no meaning, but in real life humans will create distractions and diversions, trying to form patterns and purposes and meanings to get meaning in their life even if and when there is none. The two characters spend the whole play repeating themselves and acting foolish and saying random things all trying to tell us that life really has no meaning and we spend the whole thing trying to find out what it is. It is paradoxical I think.
In the two plays we have two things getting said about the human condition. On one side, we are told that humans are violent creatures who are able to completley praise something they know nothing about except stories. On the other side we are told that life has no meaning, and that people will try to pull a meaning out of it. it tells us that people, more than anything, need something concrete that they can believe in. As long as they know it's true(like the arrival of Godot) than they will cling to it. That is what the two stories tell us about the human condition.
Brain Dump
- Much Ado About Nothing(Shakespeare)
Set in the 1500's, it features a few main characters. Claudio, Hero, Beatrice, Benedick, Leonato, and Don Jon are the main characters in the play. The play is a tragicomedy which is a story that has all the potential to be a tragedy, but instead of ending with death it ends with marriage or something else a little more lighthearted. Some issues that are addressed in the play are Courtly Romance and some class issues. In order for this play to work, the audience has to go along with what the play wants you to believe. If you were seeing it, you would have to assume that, even though the disguise is terrible, the audience has to go along with it. There are a lot of instances in the play where two characters' personalities would be completley similair to and they would attract to each other. (Beatrice-Benedick, Hero-Claudio)
- Comedy
The comedy that we dealt with has to do with Buffoonery, puns, quibbling, stereotypes, role reversal, and the other characteristics of comedy. To be funny, you have to appeal to the intellectual side of someones mind while using these characteristics of comedy, also you have to appear harmless or it will not able to be funny. Also, your joke has to go along with the joke-receiver's current surroundings .
-19th Century British Lit Unit(Dorian Gray, The Time Machine,, Frankenstein)
During the Nineteenth Century in England, we saw the rise of the scientific mind and a great increase in scientific interest and an almost decline in religious interests. The individual was more important during this period. Instead of trying to fabricate a story out of fictional elements, stories were written in a way that readers could relate sort of, but were obviously not historically accurate. In these novels, the character usually separates himself and tries to achieve peace through something. The novels challenge faith and religion and sort of represents them as the protagonist somewhat. Also, nature plays a very important role in the books as a calming agent. What i mean is that whenever someone needs guidance or healing, they seek nature for help.
-Romanticism
A movement that happened in the late 18th early 19th century in England. It was mostly represented in artistic/intellectual ideas. It emphasizes emotion, appreciation of nature, challenging social convention, and also imagination. Some Romantic ideals are isolationism, life and death, emotion over reason, fantasy, individuality, and psychology. There was a lot of industrial growth that causes urbanization. Really it was an industrial revolution and that caused all of these ideas. Also, education was a very hard thing to come by if you were not rich, white, and a boy. Magazines became popular. Also, some famous authors were Lord Byron, Wordsworth, Blake, and Coleridge.
-Victorianism
This period was in reaction to Romanticism and lasted during the Reign of Queen Victoria. Traditional values were more important during this time along with strong gender roles and spiritualism. The middle class rose, and so the class system was affected. The writer's approaches to the morality issues of the time differed, but ultimately that is wear the writing ends up. Darwin's theory of evolution was released during this time and it caused a major conflict centered around the questioning of religion.
- Modernism
Like most movements, it is a reaction to the movement before it; in this case, it is Victorianism. It occurred between WWI and WWII. Really what it is all about is being freed from the chains of everyday life and the tradition and structure of the English society at that time. Yeats was a famous Modernist writer.The use of imagery was very important in modern writing. Some characteristics of Modernism are open form, free verse, discontinuous narrative and others. It was very present in the art of the time.
-Postmodernism
No way, it was a reaction to modernism and also to World War II. There was a lot of separation between high and low culture for the same society. There was also a lot of use of irony, "black humor", intertextuality, and hyper-realism.
- Heart of Darkness
Written by Joseph Conrad, a frame narrative that tells the story of a man who travels through an ivory company into the Congo on a quest for ivory. It shows the way that people viewed each other, or specifically how the Europeans viewed the Congolese natives. It also incorporates an idea of Alienation because one of the main characters, Marlow sort of seems separate in mind from everybody else on the voyage. The story tells how colonialism affected the natives and also how workers were treated by Belgians. Also religion comes up periodically throughout this book as a sort of reasoning for certain actions. Darkness is a big source of symbolism throughout the book as well.
- Waiting for Godot
- Another tragicomedy, written by Samuel Beckett in a language that was not his first language. The play contains only two characters, Vladimir and Estragon. They are two people that are supposed to symbolize how life sucks and they are just talking and ultimately they are waiting for a man named Godot. Godot never shows up and we don't really know what the true identity of Godot really is. This play is able to be interpreted a huge variety of ways because of the way it is written. This play relates to existentialism in that it shows that life doesn't really have a point and we should just suck it up and have fun.
For the exam we need to be able to relate all the texts to their time periods and be able to identify certain characteristics of different time periods and use those to tell how the books relate to their time periods. Also, be able to talk about how each time period came from the one before and led to the next one with historical events and ideals. Also, answer the whole question on the exam. Make sure you hit all the parts of the questions.
Set in the 1500's, it features a few main characters. Claudio, Hero, Beatrice, Benedick, Leonato, and Don Jon are the main characters in the play. The play is a tragicomedy which is a story that has all the potential to be a tragedy, but instead of ending with death it ends with marriage or something else a little more lighthearted. Some issues that are addressed in the play are Courtly Romance and some class issues. In order for this play to work, the audience has to go along with what the play wants you to believe. If you were seeing it, you would have to assume that, even though the disguise is terrible, the audience has to go along with it. There are a lot of instances in the play where two characters' personalities would be completley similair to and they would attract to each other. (Beatrice-Benedick, Hero-Claudio)
- Comedy
The comedy that we dealt with has to do with Buffoonery, puns, quibbling, stereotypes, role reversal, and the other characteristics of comedy. To be funny, you have to appeal to the intellectual side of someones mind while using these characteristics of comedy, also you have to appear harmless or it will not able to be funny. Also, your joke has to go along with the joke-receiver's current surroundings .
-19th Century British Lit Unit(Dorian Gray, The Time Machine,, Frankenstein)
During the Nineteenth Century in England, we saw the rise of the scientific mind and a great increase in scientific interest and an almost decline in religious interests. The individual was more important during this period. Instead of trying to fabricate a story out of fictional elements, stories were written in a way that readers could relate sort of, but were obviously not historically accurate. In these novels, the character usually separates himself and tries to achieve peace through something. The novels challenge faith and religion and sort of represents them as the protagonist somewhat. Also, nature plays a very important role in the books as a calming agent. What i mean is that whenever someone needs guidance or healing, they seek nature for help.
-Romanticism
A movement that happened in the late 18th early 19th century in England. It was mostly represented in artistic/intellectual ideas. It emphasizes emotion, appreciation of nature, challenging social convention, and also imagination. Some Romantic ideals are isolationism, life and death, emotion over reason, fantasy, individuality, and psychology. There was a lot of industrial growth that causes urbanization. Really it was an industrial revolution and that caused all of these ideas. Also, education was a very hard thing to come by if you were not rich, white, and a boy. Magazines became popular. Also, some famous authors were Lord Byron, Wordsworth, Blake, and Coleridge.
-Victorianism
This period was in reaction to Romanticism and lasted during the Reign of Queen Victoria. Traditional values were more important during this time along with strong gender roles and spiritualism. The middle class rose, and so the class system was affected. The writer's approaches to the morality issues of the time differed, but ultimately that is wear the writing ends up. Darwin's theory of evolution was released during this time and it caused a major conflict centered around the questioning of religion.
- Modernism
Like most movements, it is a reaction to the movement before it; in this case, it is Victorianism. It occurred between WWI and WWII. Really what it is all about is being freed from the chains of everyday life and the tradition and structure of the English society at that time. Yeats was a famous Modernist writer.The use of imagery was very important in modern writing. Some characteristics of Modernism are open form, free verse, discontinuous narrative and others. It was very present in the art of the time.
-Postmodernism
No way, it was a reaction to modernism and also to World War II. There was a lot of separation between high and low culture for the same society. There was also a lot of use of irony, "black humor", intertextuality, and hyper-realism.
- Heart of Darkness
Written by Joseph Conrad, a frame narrative that tells the story of a man who travels through an ivory company into the Congo on a quest for ivory. It shows the way that people viewed each other, or specifically how the Europeans viewed the Congolese natives. It also incorporates an idea of Alienation because one of the main characters, Marlow sort of seems separate in mind from everybody else on the voyage. The story tells how colonialism affected the natives and also how workers were treated by Belgians. Also religion comes up periodically throughout this book as a sort of reasoning for certain actions. Darkness is a big source of symbolism throughout the book as well.
- Waiting for Godot
- Another tragicomedy, written by Samuel Beckett in a language that was not his first language. The play contains only two characters, Vladimir and Estragon. They are two people that are supposed to symbolize how life sucks and they are just talking and ultimately they are waiting for a man named Godot. Godot never shows up and we don't really know what the true identity of Godot really is. This play is able to be interpreted a huge variety of ways because of the way it is written. This play relates to existentialism in that it shows that life doesn't really have a point and we should just suck it up and have fun.
For the exam we need to be able to relate all the texts to their time periods and be able to identify certain characteristics of different time periods and use those to tell how the books relate to their time periods. Also, be able to talk about how each time period came from the one before and led to the next one with historical events and ideals. Also, answer the whole question on the exam. Make sure you hit all the parts of the questions.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Modernism Choice REading
For my choice modernism reading, I chose to read the Yeats poems. The first poem that I read was named The Second Coming. At first, I realized that he was talking about the second coming of Jesus. This goes with the huge dependence on religion that goes along with Modernism. He describes the second coming very gallantly. The second poem that I read was A COAT. In the poem he challenges social norms and asks questions that were not really "necessary". This goes along with Modernism because these things are common in it. The third poem, Sailing to Byzantium we see a little bit of the idea of a lost generation kind of thing. He says things like "dying generation" that make me say that. He talks about them having "unageing" intellect. He also, like the first poem brings in an important religious aspect to the poem whenever he talks about god and the "Holy fire". Finally, in the last poem, Among School Children we see more questioning of social norms and that sort of teenage feeling where we ask questions about everything and why they are they way they are. Also, he mentions class and he gives us something to think about when he says, "are you the leaf, the blossom, or the bole?"
These poems, honestly made no sense to me the first time I read them. I actually read them all all the way through one time, then again then again. I didn't repeat each poem individually because I find that reading the others helps to understand it. It is very hard to lock onto what the author is writing about in these poems because of all the weird language that he uses. These poems did seem a lot more light hearted than Heart of Darkness was. I like HOD more however, these poems were very hard for me.
These poems, honestly made no sense to me the first time I read them. I actually read them all all the way through one time, then again then again. I didn't repeat each poem individually because I find that reading the others helps to understand it. It is very hard to lock onto what the author is writing about in these poems because of all the weird language that he uses. These poems did seem a lot more light hearted than Heart of Darkness was. I like HOD more however, these poems were very hard for me.
Free Post 4:6
I think this may be may last free post this year, and because of this I think it is right that it relate to the ending of the year. I am ecstatic that this year is almost over with. I have been busier this year than I ever have before. This year I have been constantly bombarded with homework, books, projects, and other academic challenges in amounts I was not used to. However, I have made it to the other side! Now the only things that I have left in my way of the summer are the AP government assignments I have to finish and the remainder of the work that is left for my English class. I am so excited to be done with it all I actually think that I have the energy that I need to make it through this last week!
On a weirder note, I do not think that we are ready to take on the role of the senior class quite yet. I know for a fact that I am not ready to be a senior and have people look up to me as a figure of maturity and responsibility just yet. However, the idea sure is exciting. I have almost kind of been waiting for this for two years. After my Freshman Year was over and school was starting and I was a beginning sophomore, I realized how great the seniors had it and I could not wait to become like them. Now that it is here though, I feel differently about it. I am not so much anxious so much as I am convinced that it is about time. I feel like I have been waiting forever for my turn but now it is here and I cannot wait!
On a weirder note, I do not think that we are ready to take on the role of the senior class quite yet. I know for a fact that I am not ready to be a senior and have people look up to me as a figure of maturity and responsibility just yet. However, the idea sure is exciting. I have almost kind of been waiting for this for two years. After my Freshman Year was over and school was starting and I was a beginning sophomore, I realized how great the seniors had it and I could not wait to become like them. Now that it is here though, I feel differently about it. I am not so much anxious so much as I am convinced that it is about time. I feel like I have been waiting forever for my turn but now it is here and I cannot wait!
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Free Post 3:1
My Christmas Break was actually pretty boring, I got to be with my friends a lot, but nothing really exciting happened, aside from Christmas and New Years which were great. I got to play a ton of golf every day, and then do whatever i wanted at night with no school obligations which was terrific. I didn't really do anything super exciting but i did what i wanted to for two weeks and that was a pretty great feeling. But come last Monday i was ready to get back to the routine, well i was ready to start a routine. I guess i have never really had a routine that i did every day, i would always wake up at different times and really i would do whatever i felt like after school, which was sometimes homework, sometimes golf, and sometimes go to LSU for
E-STAAR. This is most of the reason why i waited so long to do all of my homework last year, but it is gong to be better this semester.
This semester i am forcing myself to be boring, I've established a schedule for myself throughout the week. On Mondays, I'm going to go to LSU and work on E-STAAR stuff so that i am not behind. When i get home, i just do all of my homework and get it over with, it has served me pretty well over the last week so i am looking forward to it.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Free Post 4:5
Well, the seniors are about to leave; it's sad, i don't want to see my friends go but i am also excited because that means that we are all about to be seniors. I have a lot of friends in the grade above us and i am going to be really sad to see them go off into college. I am also not looking forward to my grade becoming seniors. I'm excited about me individually but all together, i just don't know how good of seniors that we will be. Anyway, I am looking forward to graduation, i get to see my friends walk down the chapel isles and graduate from a place that produced so many memories and where we have basically lived in for however many years. And then i get to be there to congratulate them afterwards, it is going to be fun.
I am so looking forward to becoming a senior, it is going to be so fun knowing that i get to indulge in all of the privileges that come along with the title. We get to dress nicely any day we want which is probably what i am most excited about because i just love to get dressed up for no reason. I like to look nice. Also, i am excited about the extended freedoms that we get as seniors, but i really hope that people in our grade do not try to abuse them because that will result in the loss of the privileges and that would suck.
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Chapter 2 Travelouge
As a native on Marlowe's steamer i know everything, all the secrets and in's and out's of the boat.I hear everything and people have no idea, they just think that everything goes in one ear and out the other. Earlier this week, i overheard a few people talking about some trader's scandal. I looked around a corner to investigate and i saw something that caught my eye, Marlowe was peeking around listening overhead as well. I have realized that the manager will do just about anything to hold his position. And it turned out to be him talking about the trader scandal! It was strange though, Marlowe didn't seem too comprehensive of the conversation that he was so eagerly listening in on. I imagine that he can help us out, the conditions here are declining rapidly. I have to talk to Marlowe soon about it all as well, i have to see if there is anything that we can do to maybe help out our situation.
From what i can deduce about Marlowe i know that he is a caring soul, the way he looks at the others as they sail by our steamer. I also know that he has an interested mind, he is here for different reasons than The Company is which is why i do not think that he want's much to do with them at all. He is here to learn about our country. I know this because he mentioned finding an old book that contained an old seaman's notes and he was enthralled by them.
This voyage is becoming increasingly more dangerous as we continue on. Marlowe, however wishes to keep going so we must. He is absolutely determined to reach someone who goes by the name Kurtz. I have hope that this man, Kurtz will be able to save us from the barbaric life style that i and my people are living now. But until we reach him, we have to survive, and it is getting harder. The pilgrim's hunger grows and it is making me nervous because i know that my flesh or that of any of my fellow natives is not far down the list for a meal,
There was a fight that broke out on the ship recently, my people and some of the other crew members got into a rather bloody brawl. I am against confrontation with the pilgrims because i know that any interference at all from me could result in terribly unnecessary punishment. So in an attempt to avoid involving myself with this i hid, i hid under the deck and stayed very still and very quiet while i heard the gunshots and screams from the deck. When i was sure that the fighting was over i returned to the deck and found many dead on the deck and it was awful. But, without hesitation, Marlowe insisted that we continue on. Even though my people died, i felt safer knowing that Marlowe was sailing the ship. We are so close to Kurtz now, i might actually make it.
From what i can deduce about Marlowe i know that he is a caring soul, the way he looks at the others as they sail by our steamer. I also know that he has an interested mind, he is here for different reasons than The Company is which is why i do not think that he want's much to do with them at all. He is here to learn about our country. I know this because he mentioned finding an old book that contained an old seaman's notes and he was enthralled by them.
This voyage is becoming increasingly more dangerous as we continue on. Marlowe, however wishes to keep going so we must. He is absolutely determined to reach someone who goes by the name Kurtz. I have hope that this man, Kurtz will be able to save us from the barbaric life style that i and my people are living now. But until we reach him, we have to survive, and it is getting harder. The pilgrim's hunger grows and it is making me nervous because i know that my flesh or that of any of my fellow natives is not far down the list for a meal,
There was a fight that broke out on the ship recently, my people and some of the other crew members got into a rather bloody brawl. I am against confrontation with the pilgrims because i know that any interference at all from me could result in terribly unnecessary punishment. So in an attempt to avoid involving myself with this i hid, i hid under the deck and stayed very still and very quiet while i heard the gunshots and screams from the deck. When i was sure that the fighting was over i returned to the deck and found many dead on the deck and it was awful. But, without hesitation, Marlowe insisted that we continue on. Even though my people died, i felt safer knowing that Marlowe was sailing the ship. We are so close to Kurtz now, i might actually make it.
Free Post 4:4 '
La da da da da da da, Spring break was great. It was so nice being able to relax without any worries for a week and i think that it was just what i needed. I am really trying to push through these last three weeks and do all of my work. I have a considerable amount of work that i need to catch up on, but that is my goal for the rest of the year. One way or another, i am going to get it all done. I am done missing school as well, it is great being able to go do things while everyone else is at school but i have had enough. It has done terrible things to m grades because i have been very irresponsible about my schoolwork over the last quarter. But i am not missing anymore for the rest of the year and i am going to make sure that i get everything under control immediately.
Over spring break i actually had a ton of fun. I got to play golf basically every day and that rocked because i haven't been able to practice that consistently in forever. I also got to go to the Zurich Classic which is a professional golf tournament held in New Orleans at the TPC Louisiana Golf Course. I love going to tour events like that because I love to watch the way the pros hit the ball. They know exactly what they are doing when they hit that ball and it is just amazing. I also got to play in a few competitions myself, we had our district golf tournament at the LSU golf course and the team did well, we made it to the next level which was regionals but unfortunately the team didn't make it through. But i still had a lot of fun.
Over spring break i actually had a ton of fun. I got to play golf basically every day and that rocked because i haven't been able to practice that consistently in forever. I also got to go to the Zurich Classic which is a professional golf tournament held in New Orleans at the TPC Louisiana Golf Course. I love going to tour events like that because I love to watch the way the pros hit the ball. They know exactly what they are doing when they hit that ball and it is just amazing. I also got to play in a few competitions myself, we had our district golf tournament at the LSU golf course and the team did well, we made it to the next level which was regionals but unfortunately the team didn't make it through. But i still had a lot of fun.
WWI Poems
WWI might link to modernism because the issues that caused World War 1 are also popular topics in Modernism. Also, they were happening around the same time so the same ideas would be prevalent. I chose two particular pieces of artwork, two poems. I chose "Back" by Wilfred Gibson and, "How to Die" by Siegfried Sassoon.
"Back" by Wilfred Gibson is written from the point of view of a soldier who, after the war, was asked how the war was. He describes how he doesn't know how to describe what he had lived through because he wasn't quite sure that words could describe it. He talks about the blame that he has to bear for killing all of the people he did because he was told to. It shows us just how traumatic and hard fought WWI was. He really tries to emphasize that there really was no way to describe the war to people after the fact.
"How to Die" by Siegfried Sassoon describes viewing the death of someone else in the army. He describes how he was almost "taught" to die correctly and that shows us the death became routine for the soldiers. Like, it became so common that there was a way that decided was the best i guess. He also talks about others' reactions to that persons death. He talks about how people go home with their minds just destroyed. He almost makes it sound artistic with the way that he describes the death.
"Back" by Wilfred Gibson is written from the point of view of a soldier who, after the war, was asked how the war was. He describes how he doesn't know how to describe what he had lived through because he wasn't quite sure that words could describe it. He talks about the blame that he has to bear for killing all of the people he did because he was told to. It shows us just how traumatic and hard fought WWI was. He really tries to emphasize that there really was no way to describe the war to people after the fact.
"How to Die" by Siegfried Sassoon describes viewing the death of someone else in the army. He describes how he was almost "taught" to die correctly and that shows us the death became routine for the soldiers. Like, it became so common that there was a way that decided was the best i guess. He also talks about others' reactions to that persons death. He talks about how people go home with their minds just destroyed. He almost makes it sound artistic with the way that he describes the death.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Book Club
Frankenstein reflects the Romantic period of England which this novel was written during. In the novel there are two main characteristics of the Romantic period that are reflected. The use of nature is very reflective of the Romantic period and it shows up a lot in Frankenstein. In the novel, when the characters search for peace, quiet, and insight on something they usually go to the woods or victor would go to the mountains. This reflects Romanticism because there was a big focus on nature and the sort of power it contains. It also reflects Romanticism in that it has Enlightenment-style ideas that play major roles in the novel. For instance, Victor's unquenchable thirst for knowledge that lead him to create the monster, this is a very Enlightenment-style idea. Enlightenment ideas were very popular throughout the Romantic period.
In The Time Machine there are a variety of Victorian ideas that are represented. Class issues were very important during the Victorian Era, and also in the novel. The entire future state was based on a very polarized class system with the workers which have evolved into flesh eating monsters and the upper class which evolved into a weak race of consumers. Another characteristic of the Victorian period in the novel is the focus on the individual's occupation more than them themselves. We see this in The Time Machine because a majority of the characters' names weren't even names, they were just they're jobs or what we would know them for if we lived in the community.
In The Time Machine there are a variety of Victorian ideas that are represented. Class issues were very important during the Victorian Era, and also in the novel. The entire future state was based on a very polarized class system with the workers which have evolved into flesh eating monsters and the upper class which evolved into a weak race of consumers. Another characteristic of the Victorian period in the novel is the focus on the individual's occupation more than them themselves. We see this in The Time Machine because a majority of the characters' names weren't even names, they were just they're jobs or what we would know them for if we lived in the community.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Free Post
Have we ever heard true silence? Is it even possible? I have spent all day thinking about it and i don't think that we ever can truly achieve silence. There is always something we can hear, and I am not talking about noise pollution or whatever that is all about. I mean even in the middle of the forest, billion of years ago, at the dead of night, with nothing living around, there is noise. There has to be, i just don't think that it is possible to achieve absolute silence for an extended period of time. Just like, in chemistry trying to reach absolute zero, we can try but we will never completley reach it. For one, we would never be able do design a device able to measure that small of an amount of sound because we do not know how small the smallest possible measurement of sound is. Secondly, we wouldn't be able to discern how much area the silence would cover.
I looked up the definition of silence and, what i found was not satisfying at all. It was simply, "The absence of sound". That's all, it doesn't define it as anything more than the absence of something. But whenever you search another "absolute zero' concept, like death, it is the state of being dead. It is a state of being something, or a state of something. I do not think that it is adequately characterized when just referred to as the absence of something else. I think that silence should be a state of being, a state of no sound or movement, of course unattainable. Or maybe that is the difference. Maybe, if we are able to experience something, like death than we can describe it as a state of being something that we have a reference for. Maybe, the only way that we know how to define something is by comparing it to something that we know exits. That makes sense, thataway, if we don't understand something, we can just automatically label it as the absence of something else, regardless of if we know if that is possible or not.But i think that, since silence is the absence of sound, and that can never be knowingly achieved by us, we shouldn't use the word incorrectly. We should at least consider what we mean before we say that something was silent or that they heard nothing but silence(which is another contradiction of the definition of the word!)......
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Review
Although i am not caught up on the activities in Blackboard, i feel as though they have deepened our understandings of not only our novels but 19th Century British Literature as a whole. I have learned about
capitol R Romanticism and Victorian era Literature. The activities that we are supposed to have been doing, even though i haven't completed them yet, keep me on track. Like, at least i know what i need and how to keep going when I'm in class just kind of sitting there. They provide me with a way to move forward. Blackboard has been a very efficient way for me to learn about all of the aspects of the 19th century British literature while not reading a piece of all of them at the same time. I am able to read what others wrote and respond to them and ask questions about things i do not understand and it has helped a bunch. It is just a really great medium to learn through.
I feel that the Blackboard activities have helped us by allowing us to communicate our progress using a medium that allows everybody to see everybody else's work and comment on it. Also, reading the Q&A board cleared up a few things that i was not clear on. The book questions are another way that blackboard has helped us learn more about the book more efficiently. Because aside from your own answers, you can read others' and comment and they can comment back and doing that you learn so much more than just answering the question and moving on. Through the activities that we have done with the novels in class, i feel like i have done a better job of analyzing what i read than i did while ii was reading. I didn't do much marking when i was reading because i don't like what it does to the experience of reading so what we did in class really helped me out.
Free Post 4:2
Finally, i have done it. I have done what i never thought was possible for me to do. I have completed a long term assignment the right way. I read a little each night, even though i was at a week's disadvantage. I read and read and before i knew it, after reading each night for almost two weeks, I completed both of the novels, and loved them! The books were so interesting and i could make all sorts of connections between Romanticism and Frankenstein and I looked up confusing things about The Time Machine and i figured them out. It was really cool because there was one episode of the Big Bang Theory that talks about Morlocks and revolves completley around the time machine from The Time Machine. I made that connection and then watched that episode and laughed my butt off. It was great, and i am so proud of myself for finishing all of that on time. Even though i am a little behind on the stuff on Blackboard(which i am working on) I still got through the big stuff in a timely manor.
It was a lot easier than i thought to keep in front of all that work. All it really takes is to reserve a little blot of time somewhere in the day just like 45 minutes when nothing is going on to read or do whatever you have to do. As long as you make sure that you have time you know you are going to do it and you force yourself to start, the rest is easy. All you have to do is read, and the books are not even boring so it's like a double-whammy. It's a shame that it has taken me this long to realize how easy it could be, but that's the past. When I look back on how much i actually enjoyed the books, i realize that i easily had more fun with the books than with whatever else i would have done with that time, like watch TV or something. I am just happy about the whole thing really.
It was a lot easier than i thought to keep in front of all that work. All it really takes is to reserve a little blot of time somewhere in the day just like 45 minutes when nothing is going on to read or do whatever you have to do. As long as you make sure that you have time you know you are going to do it and you force yourself to start, the rest is easy. All you have to do is read, and the books are not even boring so it's like a double-whammy. It's a shame that it has taken me this long to realize how easy it could be, but that's the past. When I look back on how much i actually enjoyed the books, i realize that i easily had more fun with the books than with whatever else i would have done with that time, like watch TV or something. I am just happy about the whole thing really.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Frankenstein Book Club
Hey GUYS!!!!! Were back this week to talk about Frankenstein and nobody else came to the meeting so i am just going to present what i have found. Soooooo this week mittens and i decided that we wanted to talk about a few things, Victor's very loving relationship with his sister, the purpose and effect of the letters at the beginning of the novel, and the Romantic style of writing. (BTDUBS its not the kind of Romance you guys are thinking about.... TEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE.) So firstly, i would like to clear up this relationship between Victor and his sister, you see it seemed weird to me first too like why would he be that close with his sister..? Mr.Mittens agrees with me. Anyway, i did some digging and i found out that it was very hard to get around and socialize outside of the home in England at this time. You had to stay inside the home and when you spend all of every day in the house with your family you get close to them. (OH MY GOSH IT is just like Me and the CAT!!) Secondly, the letters at the beginning of the novel, what do they do for us? What they do is they set up a frame for the rest of the book. The letters and the contents of the letters are given to us as something to think about throughout the whole book because they might help us connect something later. Lastly, i would like to mention the very Romantic style of writing the Frankenstein is written with. If you haven't noticed they talk about nature a lot. I mean a LOT. Whenever the Doctor needs to think he goes out to nature and it turns out that is a very Romantic characteristic of writing.
Now what do these things do for the novel, why are they important? When speaking in context of the relationship between Victor and his sister, it is better to explain it as a part of the novel being written with such a Romantic style. During Romantic era England the family being close thing was important. The style that the novel was written in is important because it establishes the time in history that the novel as written and that itself improves the quality of the novel. Also, the letters are very important to the novel because they help us realize things about both Victor and Captain Walton. For instance, how good of friends they became so easily:). Ok, well i have to go feed mittens, he's getting snappy with me(that's how i know he is hungry.) I really hope i see everyone at next week's meeting, but i mean you don't have to come if you don't want to, ill just have it with mittens again. No pressure guys just give it some thought, you know if you aren't doing anything. Goodnight!
Now what do these things do for the novel, why are they important? When speaking in context of the relationship between Victor and his sister, it is better to explain it as a part of the novel being written with such a Romantic style. During Romantic era England the family being close thing was important. The style that the novel was written in is important because it establishes the time in history that the novel as written and that itself improves the quality of the novel. Also, the letters are very important to the novel because they help us realize things about both Victor and Captain Walton. For instance, how good of friends they became so easily:). Ok, well i have to go feed mittens, he's getting snappy with me(that's how i know he is hungry.) I really hope i see everyone at next week's meeting, but i mean you don't have to come if you don't want to, ill just have it with mittens again. No pressure guys just give it some thought, you know if you aren't doing anything. Goodnight!
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Free Post
Things have been crazy ever since i got back from Spain, which wasn't as awesome as i thought it would be. It was fun, like when i got to hang out with my friends from episcopal and even Miguel's friends. The only problem i had with it was that Miguel never did anything except play fifa with me. Like, everyone else got to go to the mall and things like that during the week, but not us.. Anyway, my school work situation has been pretty hectic with trying to catch up with everything, but i have realized that as long as i get my work done everything will work out.
The only disadvantage to missing a week is not knowing the things that everyone else in the class knows and it is hard to find a way to have that information explained to you in the same way or in a way that allows you to get the same amount of information as everyone else in the class had. It is hard, even with a full set of notes, you cannot get the same depth of understanding that you could from being in the class. Even if you go to the teacher for the half an hour of tutorial everyday for a week you still probably could not go into as much detail of all of the information as you need. Really, the only thing that you can do about it is work as hard as you can every day at home and at school until you are caught up and that is my plan right now.
The only disadvantage to missing a week is not knowing the things that everyone else in the class knows and it is hard to find a way to have that information explained to you in the same way or in a way that allows you to get the same amount of information as everyone else in the class had. It is hard, even with a full set of notes, you cannot get the same depth of understanding that you could from being in the class. Even if you go to the teacher for the half an hour of tutorial everyday for a week you still probably could not go into as much detail of all of the information as you need. Really, the only thing that you can do about it is work as hard as you can every day at home and at school until you are caught up and that is my plan right now.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Much Ado Clips
After watching the clips, I noticed that the more modern clip seemed to focus a lot more on the scandal and adulterous parts of the play. It is this way i think because that tends to interest people the most these days in regards to what seems interesting to them or not. The older clip seemed to focus more on the play as a whole. It captured the tone of the play through the really bright music and the montage of scenes that was shown. The messages that i get from the clips are very different from one another.
The modern clip does seem to miss a rather important part of the play. There is not much suggestion of comedy in the clip. From the clip, you can conclude that it is obviously not a serious movie, but you can not tell that it is meant to be a comedy, or a romantic comedy at that. It seems like it is just going to be a drama filled with sex and twists and turns. The older clip doesn't miss much, between the music and the different parts of the movie that they showed, you pretty much got the overall feel of the play. It was hearty and fun filled with some scandal mixed in. I think that personally, i would like the older movie better.
The modern clip does seem to miss a rather important part of the play. There is not much suggestion of comedy in the clip. From the clip, you can conclude that it is obviously not a serious movie, but you can not tell that it is meant to be a comedy, or a romantic comedy at that. It seems like it is just going to be a drama filled with sex and twists and turns. The older clip doesn't miss much, between the music and the different parts of the movie that they showed, you pretty much got the overall feel of the play. It was hearty and fun filled with some scandal mixed in. I think that personally, i would like the older movie better.
Free Post 3:6
I really enjoy homework sometimes. But only at certain times, i really like it whenever i know that i know what i am doing because i can usually whip through it pretty quickly.Other times, when i do not know what i am doing, i get really aggravated because i know what i am doing isn't right. I do not, however just give up and do it wrong. I do my best to find out how to do it correctly, but if i just can't figure out how to do it, then i will do it wrong, and use the corrections to make sure i understand it. I actually always use the corrections from the next day of class to understand how to do whatever it is that we are doing.
I that homework is a very important part off school for two reason. First, doing homework helps us practice the material that we just learned in class, it is an important step for our brains to process what we learned that day and it helps it to stick. The second reason that homework is important is that it helps to teach us time management. That is an important skill because in life, doing everything in a timely fashion is very importatnt and if you have not developed that skill previous to your adult life, it will be very hard for you.
I that homework is a very important part off school for two reason. First, doing homework helps us practice the material that we just learned in class, it is an important step for our brains to process what we learned that day and it helps it to stick. The second reason that homework is important is that it helps to teach us time management. That is an important skill because in life, doing everything in a timely fashion is very importatnt and if you have not developed that skill previous to your adult life, it will be very hard for you.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Act 3 Promptbook
Cole Kennedy
VERGES (Saluting)
Yea, or else it were pity but they should suffer
salvation, body and soul.
DOGBERRY (A general briefing of the night)
Nay, that were a punishment too good for them, if
they should have any allegiance in them, being
chosen for the prince's watch.
VERGES
Well, give them their charge, neighbour Dogberry.
DOGBERRY
First, who think you the most desertless man to be
constable?
First Watchman (In a shouting voice)
Hugh Otecake, sir, or George Seacole; for they can
write and read.
DOGBERRY
Come hither, neighbour Seacole. God hath blessed
you with a good name: to be a well-favoured man is
the gift of fortune; but to write and read comes by nature.
Second Watchman
Both which, master constable,--
DOGBERRY
You have: I knew it would be your answer. Well,
for your favour, sir, why, give God thanks, and make
no boast of it; and for your writing and reading,
let that appear when there is no need of such
vanity. You are thought here to be the most
senseless and fit man for the constable of the
watch; therefore bear you the lantern. This is your
charge: you shall comprehend all vagrom men; you are
to bid any man stand, in the prince's name.
Second Watchman
How if a' will not stand?
DOGBERRY
Why, then, take no note of him, but let him go; and
presently call the rest of the watch together and
thank God you are rid of a knave.
VERGES (Sort of laughing under his breath, breaking rank and making it apparent that Dogberry does not have much real authority over him)
If he will not stand when he is bidden, he is none
of the prince's subjects.
6 . all wearing suits.
Kealy Duke
English III
2.17.2014
Scene 1:
1. Hero and her fiance Claudio are about to be married. They are in love but have only been dating a short while, the year is 2014 and things could not be more tense. Her and her bridesmaids are preparing for Hero's wedding. They know nothing of the plan to foil her marriage. the wedding is very near and Hero is in her gown walking around the garden with her friends, who are wearing their street clothes, I.E. Jeans and a top. But hero is having a little fun with Beatrice before their wedding by trying to fling together Benedick and Beatrice. The group is on the stage at a table while there is a hedge separating the two sides of the stage, Beatrice comes in on the right side and they "can't see" her.
HERO (Knowing that Beatrice can hear, she speaks loudly to her friends, there is a tone of amusement in her voice as she loves the deed she is doing)
Now, Ursula, when Beatrice doth come,
As we do trace this alley up and down,
Our talk must only be of Benedick.
When I do name him, let it be thy part
To praise him more than ever man did merit:
My talk to thee must be how Benedick
Is sick in love with Beatrice. Of this matter
Is little Cupid's crafty arrow made,
That only wounds by hearsay.
Enter BEATRICE, behind (From back left to center left, putting her hand to her ear to hear beyond the hedge.)
Now begin;
For look where Beatrice, like a lapwing, runs
Close by the ground, to hear our conference.
URSULA (just as loud and deliberately)
The pleasant'st angling is to see the fish
Cut with her golden oars the silver stream,
And greedily devour the treacherous bait:
So angle we for Beatrice; who even now
Is couched in the woodbine coverture.
Fear you not my part of the dialogue.
HERO
Then go we near her, that her ear lose nothing
Of the false sweet bait that we lay for it.
Approaching the bower
No, truly, Ursula, she is too disdainful;
I know her spirits are as coy and wild
As haggerds of the rock.
URSULA
But are you sure
That Benedick loves Beatrice so entirely?
HERO (Looking back at the hedge, smiling beacause she knows what she jsut did)
So says the prince and my new-trothed lord.
Now, Ursula, when Beatrice doth come,
As we do trace this alley up and down,
Our talk must only be of Benedick.
When I do name him, let it be thy part
To praise him more than ever man did merit:
My talk to thee must be how Benedick
Is sick in love with Beatrice. Of this matter
Is little Cupid's crafty arrow made,
That only wounds by hearsay.
Enter BEATRICE, behind (From back left to center left, putting her hand to her ear to hear beyond the hedge.)
Now begin;
For look where Beatrice, like a lapwing, runs
Close by the ground, to hear our conference.
URSULA (just as loud and deliberately)
The pleasant'st angling is to see the fish
Cut with her golden oars the silver stream,
And greedily devour the treacherous bait:
So angle we for Beatrice; who even now
Is couched in the woodbine coverture.
Fear you not my part of the dialogue.
HERO
Then go we near her, that her ear lose nothing
Of the false sweet bait that we lay for it.
Approaching the bower
No, truly, Ursula, she is too disdainful;
I know her spirits are as coy and wild
As haggerds of the rock.
URSULA
But are you sure
That Benedick loves Beatrice so entirely?
HERO (Looking back at the hedge, smiling beacause she knows what she jsut did)
So says the prince and my new-trothed lord.
2. While Hero and Ursula continue to talk about how Benedick "loves" Beatrice, their dialogue becomes inaudible and the lights fade a little around them but intensify on Beatrice to really show her reactions to what they are saying. After about 15 seconds of this everyone pauses for a moment, the lights come back up and the speaking continues. Beatrice, awestruckenly sits on a bench during the silence and that is where she listens to the rest of the conversation.
URSULA (In the same tone as before, an excited one that shows her inability to stay cool under pressure. She starts to smoke a cigarette.)
O, do not do your cousin such a wrong.
She cannot be so much without true judgment--
Having so swift and excellent a wit
As she is prized to have--as to refuse
So rare a gentleman as Signior Benedick.
HERO (In a very complimenitive manor)
He is the only man of Italy.
Always excepted my dear Claudio.
URSULA
I pray you, be not angry with me, madam,
Speaking my fancy: Signior Benedick,
For shape, for bearing, argument and valour,
Goes foremost in report through Italy.
HERO (Standing up and speaking with exclamation)
Indeed, he hath an excellent good name.
URSULA
His excellence did earn it, ere he had it.
When are you married, madam?
HERO
Why, every day, to-morrow. Come, go in:
I'll show thee some attires, and have thy counsel
Which is the best to furnish me to-morrow.
URSULA
She's limed, I warrant you: we have caught her, madam.
HERO
If it proves so, then loving goes by haps:
Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.
Exeunt HERO and URSULA
BEATRICE ( She rises from the bench and takes center left center stage, all the lights go down except for her spotlight and she begins. She speaks quickly as if discovering each new word as she speaks. She is overcome with joy and confusion, her emotions are all over the place.)
[Coming forward]
What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true?
Stand I condemn'd for pride and scorn so much?
Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, adieu!
No glory lives behind the back of such.
And, Benedick, love on; I will requite thee,
Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand:
If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee
To bind our loves up in a holy band;
For others say thou dost deserve, and I
Believe it better than reportingly.
She cannot be so much without true judgment--
Having so swift and excellent a wit
As she is prized to have--as to refuse
So rare a gentleman as Signior Benedick.
HERO (In a very complimenitive manor)
He is the only man of Italy.
Always excepted my dear Claudio.
URSULA
I pray you, be not angry with me, madam,
Speaking my fancy: Signior Benedick,
For shape, for bearing, argument and valour,
Goes foremost in report through Italy.
HERO (Standing up and speaking with exclamation)
Indeed, he hath an excellent good name.
URSULA
His excellence did earn it, ere he had it.
When are you married, madam?
HERO
Why, every day, to-morrow. Come, go in:
I'll show thee some attires, and have thy counsel
Which is the best to furnish me to-morrow.
URSULA
She's limed, I warrant you: we have caught her, madam.
HERO
If it proves so, then loving goes by haps:
Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.
Exeunt HERO and URSULA
BEATRICE ( She rises from the bench and takes center left center stage, all the lights go down except for her spotlight and she begins. She speaks quickly as if discovering each new word as she speaks. She is overcome with joy and confusion, her emotions are all over the place.)
[Coming forward]
What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true?
Stand I condemn'd for pride and scorn so much?
Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, adieu!
No glory lives behind the back of such.
And, Benedick, love on; I will requite thee,
Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand:
If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee
To bind our loves up in a holy band;
For others say thou dost deserve, and I
Believe it better than reportingly.
(She exits to the right and the curtains draw.)
Scene 2
3. DON PEDRO, CLAUDIO, BENEDICK, and LEONATO all enter Leonato's house, they are all dressed in suit, black, the colors of the ties vary. Benedick has just learned of Beatirce's love for him and has developed his own love for her. They are in a room huddled around a table and they are speaking loudly and heartily. The lights are bright and fill up the stage.
BENEDICK (He stands up to draw attention to himself)
Gallants, I am not as I have been.
LEONATO ( In a joking manor)
So say I methinks you are sadder.
CLAUDIO (Interjecting loudly)
I hope he be in love.
DON PEDRO
Gallants, I am not as I have been.
LEONATO ( In a joking manor)
So say I methinks you are sadder.
CLAUDIO (Interjecting loudly)
I hope he be in love.
DON PEDRO
Hang him, truant! there's no true drop of blood in
him, to be truly touched with love: if he be sad,
he wants money.
BENEDICK ( Sarcastically and in an attempt to regain order)
I have the toothache.
DON PEDRO
Draw it.
BENEDICK (He bangs the table, He is starting to get frustrated)
Hang it!
CLAUDIO
You must hang it first, and draw it afterwards.
DON PEDRO
What! sigh for the toothache?
LEONATO
Where is but a humour or a worm.
BENEDICK
Well, every one can master a grief but he that has
it.
CLAUDIO (Standing up, as if he had just made this discovery, he says it excitedly and as if it was unexpected)
Yet say I, he is in love.
him, to be truly touched with love: if he be sad,
he wants money.
BENEDICK ( Sarcastically and in an attempt to regain order)
I have the toothache.
DON PEDRO
Draw it.
BENEDICK (He bangs the table, He is starting to get frustrated)
Hang it!
CLAUDIO
You must hang it first, and draw it afterwards.
DON PEDRO
What! sigh for the toothache?
LEONATO
Where is but a humour or a worm.
BENEDICK
Well, every one can master a grief but he that has
it.
CLAUDIO (Standing up, as if he had just made this discovery, he says it excitedly and as if it was unexpected)
Yet say I, he is in love.
4. Don John is about to come and stir the pot, that is all he is really there for.
DON JOHN (With a one hundred percent fake look of concern for Claudio, Don John takes a deep breath and then makes his statement "nonchalantly".
If it please you: yet Count Claudio may hear; for
what I would speak of concerns him.
DON PEDRO
What's the matter?
DON JOHN (With feeling)
[To CLAUDIO] Means your lordship to be married
to-morrow?
DON PEDRO (impolitely interjecting on purpose)
You know he does.
DON JOHN
I know not that, when he knows what I know.
CLAUDIO
If there be any impediment, I pray you discover it.
DON JOHN (Pouring out his heart to Claudio, the entire point of his character depends on his ability to convince Claudio he is right so he puts a hand on Claudio and really sells it)
You may think I love you not: let that appear
hereafter, and aim better at me by that I now will
manifest. For my brother, I think he holds you
well, and in dearness of heart hath holp to effect
your ensuing marriage;--surely suit ill spent and
labour ill bestowed.
DON PEDRO (Again, interjecting as if he is handling his brother for Claudio. Because he is the only one don John respects.)
Why, what's the matter?
DON JOHN
I came hither to tell you; and, circumstances
shortened, for she has been too long a talking of,
the lady is disloyal.
CLAUDIO
Who, Hero?
DON PEDRO (This is the line that really set's Claudio's mind.)
If it please you: yet Count Claudio may hear; for
what I would speak of concerns him.
DON PEDRO
What's the matter?
DON JOHN (With feeling)
[To CLAUDIO] Means your lordship to be married
to-morrow?
DON PEDRO (impolitely interjecting on purpose)
You know he does.
DON JOHN
I know not that, when he knows what I know.
CLAUDIO
If there be any impediment, I pray you discover it.
DON JOHN (Pouring out his heart to Claudio, the entire point of his character depends on his ability to convince Claudio he is right so he puts a hand on Claudio and really sells it)
You may think I love you not: let that appear
hereafter, and aim better at me by that I now will
manifest. For my brother, I think he holds you
well, and in dearness of heart hath holp to effect
your ensuing marriage;--surely suit ill spent and
labour ill bestowed.
DON PEDRO (Again, interjecting as if he is handling his brother for Claudio. Because he is the only one don John respects.)
Why, what's the matter?
DON JOHN
I came hither to tell you; and, circumstances
shortened, for she has been too long a talking of,
the lady is disloyal.
CLAUDIO
Who, Hero?
DON PEDRO (This is the line that really set's Claudio's mind.)
Even she; Leonato's Hero, your Hero, every man's Hero:
After this, The speaking becomes inaudible again and the lights dim everywhere except for on Claudio so you can see his expression as the meaning of these unbelievable words is unraveled by the rest of the Group.
5. The curtains draw, and then reopen on the local police precinct; two officers, Dogberry and Verges are talking in their uniforms. They are getting ready for a big night.
DOGBERRY (Speaking to his lieutenant and other lower ranking officers. while pacing up and down the line they have made while sipping his coffee)
Are you good men and true?VERGES (Saluting)
Yea, or else it were pity but they should suffer
salvation, body and soul.
DOGBERRY (A general briefing of the night)
Nay, that were a punishment too good for them, if
they should have any allegiance in them, being
chosen for the prince's watch.
VERGES
Well, give them their charge, neighbour Dogberry.
DOGBERRY
First, who think you the most desertless man to be
constable?
First Watchman (In a shouting voice)
Hugh Otecake, sir, or George Seacole; for they can
write and read.
DOGBERRY
Come hither, neighbour Seacole. God hath blessed
you with a good name: to be a well-favoured man is
the gift of fortune; but to write and read comes by nature.
Second Watchman
Both which, master constable,--
DOGBERRY
You have: I knew it would be your answer. Well,
for your favour, sir, why, give God thanks, and make
no boast of it; and for your writing and reading,
let that appear when there is no need of such
vanity. You are thought here to be the most
senseless and fit man for the constable of the
watch; therefore bear you the lantern. This is your
charge: you shall comprehend all vagrom men; you are
to bid any man stand, in the prince's name.
Second Watchman
How if a' will not stand?
DOGBERRY
Why, then, take no note of him, but let him go; and
presently call the rest of the watch together and
thank God you are rid of a knave.
VERGES (Sort of laughing under his breath, breaking rank and making it apparent that Dogberry does not have much real authority over him)
If he will not stand when he is bidden, he is none
of the prince's subjects.
6 . all wearing suits.
BORACHIO (Center Stage, back turned to the audience. Speaking louldy)
Therefore know I have earned of Don John a thousand ducats.
CONRADE (Backing away slightly)
Is it possible that any villany should be so dear?
BORACHIO (With Authority!)
Thou shouldst rather ask if it were possible any
villany should be so rich; for when rich villains
have need of poor ones, poor ones may make what
price they will.
CONRADE (Hand on his chin to think)
I wonder at it.
BORACHIO
That shows thou art unconfirmed. Thou knowest that
the fashion of a doublet, or a hat, or a cloak, is
nothing to a man.
CONRADE
Yes, it is apparel.
BORACHIO (understandingly)
I mean, the fashion.
CONRADE
Yes, the fashion is the fashion.
BORACHIO
Tush! I may as well say the fool's the fool. But
seest thou not what a deformed thief this fashion
is?
Watchman (Interjecting literally with his hand)
[Aside] I know that Deformed; a' has been a vile
thief this seven year; a' goes up and down like a
gentleman: I remember his name.
BORACHIO
Didst thou not hear somebody?
CONRADE (Yelling, making sure to assert himself)
No; 'twas the vane on the house.
CONRADE (Backing away slightly)
Is it possible that any villany should be so dear?
BORACHIO (With Authority!)
Thou shouldst rather ask if it were possible any
villany should be so rich; for when rich villains
have need of poor ones, poor ones may make what
price they will.
CONRADE (Hand on his chin to think)
I wonder at it.
BORACHIO
That shows thou art unconfirmed. Thou knowest that
the fashion of a doublet, or a hat, or a cloak, is
nothing to a man.
CONRADE
Yes, it is apparel.
BORACHIO (understandingly)
I mean, the fashion.
CONRADE
Yes, the fashion is the fashion.
BORACHIO
Tush! I may as well say the fool's the fool. But
seest thou not what a deformed thief this fashion
is?
Watchman (Interjecting literally with his hand)
[Aside] I know that Deformed; a' has been a vile
thief this seven year; a' goes up and down like a
gentleman: I remember his name.
BORACHIO
Didst thou not hear somebody?
CONRADE (Yelling, making sure to assert himself)
No; 'twas the vane on the house.
Scene IV
7.As the troubled marriage of Hero and Claudio draws near, Hero prepares for the special day. She is joined by her maids Margaret and Beatrice and ursula. They are all wearing robes and are deciding what their day is going to be like. They are all on couches huddled around a coffee table, the color white is happening a lot and the stage is bright. Beatrice is still sleeping however.
HERO (Yawning, hoppily and happily asking Margaret for such a kind favor and smiling as she does it)
Good Ursula, wake my cousin Beatrice, and desire
her to rise.
URSULA (Daintily rising and bowing as she speaks.)
I will, lady.
HERO ( as she walks away she says this loudly but with just as much grace as her first line)
And bid her come hither.
URSULA
Well.
Exit
MARGARET (Hero rises and puts one o her dresses that she wants to wear for the wedding against her to see how it would look.)
Troth, I think your other rabato were better.
HERO (insisting)
No, pray thee, good Meg, I'll wear this.
MARGARET (convincingly, she stands to try and affirm her statement.)
By my troth, 's not so good; and I warrant your
cousin will say so.
HERO (Jokingly, she rejects the suggestion)
My cousin's a fool, and thou art another: I'll wear
none but this.
MARGARET (exactingly, she starts the flow of compliments)
I like the new tire within excellently, if the hair
were a thought browner; and your gown's a most rare
fashion, i' faith. I saw the Duchess of Milan's
gown that they praise so.
HERO (She takes the dress and spins around the room with it)
O, that exceeds, they say.
MARGARET
By my troth, 's but a night-gown in respect of
yours: cloth o' gold, and cuts, and laced with
silver, set with pearls, down sleeves, side sleeves,
and skirts, round underborne with a bluish tinsel:
but for a fine, quaint, graceful and excellent
fashion, yours is worth ten on 't.
HERO
God give me joy to wear it! for my heart is
exceeding heavy.
MARGARET
'Twill be heavier soon by the weight of a man.
HERO (Shocked! and astounded)
Fie upon thee! art not ashamed?
MARGARET (Sassy and to explain herself)
Of what, lady? of speaking honourably? Is not
marriage honourable in a beggar? Is not your lord
honourable without marriage? I think you would have
me say, 'saving your reverence, a husband:' and bad
thinking do not wrest true speaking, I'll offend
nobody: is there any harm in 'the heavier for a
husband'? None, I think, and it be the right husband
and the right wife; otherwise 'tis light, and not
heavy: ask my Lady Beatrice else; here she comes.
Enter BEATRICE
Good Ursula, wake my cousin Beatrice, and desire
her to rise.
URSULA (Daintily rising and bowing as she speaks.)
I will, lady.
HERO ( as she walks away she says this loudly but with just as much grace as her first line)
And bid her come hither.
URSULA
Well.
Exit
MARGARET (Hero rises and puts one o her dresses that she wants to wear for the wedding against her to see how it would look.)
Troth, I think your other rabato were better.
HERO (insisting)
No, pray thee, good Meg, I'll wear this.
MARGARET (convincingly, she stands to try and affirm her statement.)
By my troth, 's not so good; and I warrant your
cousin will say so.
HERO (Jokingly, she rejects the suggestion)
My cousin's a fool, and thou art another: I'll wear
none but this.
MARGARET (exactingly, she starts the flow of compliments)
I like the new tire within excellently, if the hair
were a thought browner; and your gown's a most rare
fashion, i' faith. I saw the Duchess of Milan's
gown that they praise so.
HERO (She takes the dress and spins around the room with it)
O, that exceeds, they say.
MARGARET
By my troth, 's but a night-gown in respect of
yours: cloth o' gold, and cuts, and laced with
silver, set with pearls, down sleeves, side sleeves,
and skirts, round underborne with a bluish tinsel:
but for a fine, quaint, graceful and excellent
fashion, yours is worth ten on 't.
HERO
God give me joy to wear it! for my heart is
exceeding heavy.
MARGARET
'Twill be heavier soon by the weight of a man.
HERO (Shocked! and astounded)
Fie upon thee! art not ashamed?
MARGARET (Sassy and to explain herself)
Of what, lady? of speaking honourably? Is not
marriage honourable in a beggar? Is not your lord
honourable without marriage? I think you would have
me say, 'saving your reverence, a husband:' and bad
thinking do not wrest true speaking, I'll offend
nobody: is there any harm in 'the heavier for a
husband'? None, I think, and it be the right husband
and the right wife; otherwise 'tis light, and not
heavy: ask my Lady Beatrice else; here she comes.
Enter BEATRICE
(Beatrice enters, almost skipping she is so giddy. The lights noticeably dim around the other characters but on Hero, they get brighter You simply see her get happier and happier until conversation ends and the curtains draw to a close. End Scene IV)
Scene V
8. It is previous to the wedding and Leonato and the policeman, Verges and Dogberry are speaking about the possible "implications" of what the wedding could hold. All dressed as previously stated of course. They are in Leonato's house and he is drinking some of his bourbon. They are just in a room, a few things on the wall every then and there.
LEONATO ( not even thinking about it, while taking a sip of his drink.)
I would fain know what you have to say.
VERGES
Marry, sir, our watch to-night, excepting your
worship's presence, ha' ta'en a couple of as arrant
knaves as any in Messina.
DOGBERRY (interjects into Verges' statement, says this with a sort of pompousness)
A good old man, sir; he will be talking: as they
say, when the age is in, the wit is out: God help
us! it is a world to see. Well said, i' faith,
neighbour Verges: well, God's a good man; an two men
ride of a horse, one must ride behind. An honest
soul, i' faith, sir; by my troth he is, as ever
broke bread; but God is to be worshipped; all men
are not alike; alas, good neighbour!
LEONATO ( Taking another sip)
Indeed, neighbour, he comes too short of you.
DOGBERRY
Gifts that God gives.
LEONATO ( In an attempt to escape, Leonato is growing tired and reaches for the door)
I must leave you.
DOGBERRY (In a very serious tone, he must say this in a way to make Leonato interested in it. he stops LEONATO from leaving with a hand on his shoulder.)
One word, sir: our watch, sir, have indeed
comprehended two aspicious persons, and we would
have them this morning examined before your worship.
LEONATO (again, attempting to leave)
Take their examination yourself and bring it me: I
am now in great haste, as it may appear unto you.
DOGBERRY
It shall be suffigance.
LEONATO
Drink some wine ere you go: fare you well.
Enter a Messenger
Messenger (intrudingly)
My lord, they stay for you to give your daughter to
her husband.
LEONATO
I'll wait upon them: I am ready.
Exeunt LEONATO and Messenger
DOGBERRY
Go, good partner, go, get you to Francis Seacole;
bid him bring his pen and inkhorn to the gaol: we
are now to examination these men.
VERGES
And we must do it wisely.
DOGBERRY (Walking back to Leonato, then ending excitingly!)
We will spare for no wit, I warrant you; here's
that shall drive some of them to a non-come: only
get the learned writer to set down our
excommunication and meet me at the gaol.
Exeunt ( All exit left through the door to the room.)
I would fain know what you have to say.
VERGES
Marry, sir, our watch to-night, excepting your
worship's presence, ha' ta'en a couple of as arrant
knaves as any in Messina.
DOGBERRY (interjects into Verges' statement, says this with a sort of pompousness)
A good old man, sir; he will be talking: as they
say, when the age is in, the wit is out: God help
us! it is a world to see. Well said, i' faith,
neighbour Verges: well, God's a good man; an two men
ride of a horse, one must ride behind. An honest
soul, i' faith, sir; by my troth he is, as ever
broke bread; but God is to be worshipped; all men
are not alike; alas, good neighbour!
LEONATO ( Taking another sip)
Indeed, neighbour, he comes too short of you.
DOGBERRY
Gifts that God gives.
LEONATO ( In an attempt to escape, Leonato is growing tired and reaches for the door)
I must leave you.
DOGBERRY (In a very serious tone, he must say this in a way to make Leonato interested in it. he stops LEONATO from leaving with a hand on his shoulder.)
One word, sir: our watch, sir, have indeed
comprehended two aspicious persons, and we would
have them this morning examined before your worship.
LEONATO (again, attempting to leave)
Take their examination yourself and bring it me: I
am now in great haste, as it may appear unto you.
DOGBERRY
It shall be suffigance.
LEONATO
Drink some wine ere you go: fare you well.
Enter a Messenger
Messenger (intrudingly)
My lord, they stay for you to give your daughter to
her husband.
LEONATO
I'll wait upon them: I am ready.
Exeunt LEONATO and Messenger
DOGBERRY
Go, good partner, go, get you to Francis Seacole;
bid him bring his pen and inkhorn to the gaol: we
are now to examination these men.
VERGES
And we must do it wisely.
DOGBERRY (Walking back to Leonato, then ending excitingly!)
We will spare for no wit, I warrant you; here's
that shall drive some of them to a non-come: only
get the learned writer to set down our
excommunication and meet me at the gaol.
Exeunt ( All exit left through the door to the room.)
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Act 2 Promptbook
Cole Kennedy
Ms. Duke
English III
2.10.2014
Promptbook Act 2:
Scene 1
1.
LEONATO(Leonato, wearing his best collared shirt and khaki pants, stands among his friends Hero and Beatrice and his twin brother Antonio, is at the dance early waiting for things to get started and extremely nervous from being the first ones there. His hair is slicked back and he is also wearing his nice deck shoes. Comfortable among his friends, conversation starts to emerge. he speaks very naturally and the four are standing center stage in a circle with the spotlights on them.)
By my troth, niece, thou wilt never get thee a
husband, if thou be so shrewd of thy tongue.
ANTONIO (Dressed similarly to Leonato but much more timid)
In faith, she's too curst.
BEATRICE (Beatrice is the more dominant figure. She is the one who is the most dramatic out of the bunch. She is dressed in her little green flower dress with her pink flats and a headband with a bow in it. She. really. likes. to. talk.)
Too curst is more than curst: I shall lessen God's
sending that way; for it is said, 'God sends a curst
cow short horns;' but to a cow too curst he sends none.
LEONATO (in the usual tone of their quite frequent quarrels, he engages in usual conversation. there is always a little tension between Leonato and Beatrice because L is always trying to watch out for B but she doesn't really care.)
So, by being too curst, God will send you no horns.
BEATRICE (She doesn't really mean this when she says it, she is only saying it because she wants to be different and she wants like attention, but it is sort of unrealistic, of course she wants a husband...lol)
Just, if he send me no husband; for the which
blessing I am at him upon my knees every morning and
evening. Lord, I could not endure a husband with a
beard on his face: I had rather lie in the woollen.
LEONATO ( A clever remark, he is quite pleased with himself when he says it as he steps forward and looks at the audience as he says it. Then either the laugh track plays or the crowd laughs over it.)
You may light on a husband that hath no beard.
BEATRICE (Beatrice takes this joke a little too seriously, not in an offensive way, she just goes off on a tangent and starts to talk about how she doesn't want a boyfriend, really all this is is yapping. It doesn't mean much.)
What should I do with him? dress him in my apparel
and make him my waiting-gentlewoman? He that hath a
beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no
beard is less than a man: and he that is more than
a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a
man, I am not for him: therefore, I will even take
sixpence in earnest of the bear-ward, and lead his
apes into hell.
LEONATO (He plays off of her joke in an attempt to make the comedy roll)
Well, then, go you into hell?
BEATRICE ( Now it is not a joke, it is an elaborate story, the details of which come to Beatrice's head right before she says it.)
No, but to the gate; and there will the devil meet
me, like an old cuckold, with horns on his head, and
say 'Get you to heaven, Beatrice, get you to
heaven; here's no place for you maids:' so deliver
I up my apes, and away to Saint Peter for the
heavens; he shows me where the bachelors sit, and
there live we as merry as the day is long.
ANTONIO (Just chiming in, he speaks lowly and quickly to get his point across. He is the quiet one, we realize that with this line by the way he says it.)
[To HERO] Well, niece, I trust you will be ruled
by your father.
BEATRICE (Strongly, she finishes with her last statement, she is pleased that she carried the conversation out like this, the door opens as more students begin to walk in and split up into their respective gender groups.)
Yes, faith; it is my cousin's duty to make curtsy
and say 'Father, as it please you.' But yet for all
that, cousin, let him be a handsome fellow, or else
make another curtsy and say 'Father, as it please
me.'
LEONATO ( He is trying to be nice, He knows what she really wants, but he is sort of sneaky about it. He just kind of leaves what she has said alone as the crowd enters.)
Well, niece, I hope to see you one day fitted with a husband.
husband, if thou be so shrewd of thy tongue.
ANTONIO (Dressed similarly to Leonato but much more timid)
In faith, she's too curst.
BEATRICE (Beatrice is the more dominant figure. She is the one who is the most dramatic out of the bunch. She is dressed in her little green flower dress with her pink flats and a headband with a bow in it. She. really. likes. to. talk.)
Too curst is more than curst: I shall lessen God's
sending that way; for it is said, 'God sends a curst
cow short horns;' but to a cow too curst he sends none.
LEONATO (in the usual tone of their quite frequent quarrels, he engages in usual conversation. there is always a little tension between Leonato and Beatrice because L is always trying to watch out for B but she doesn't really care.)
So, by being too curst, God will send you no horns.
BEATRICE (She doesn't really mean this when she says it, she is only saying it because she wants to be different and she wants like attention, but it is sort of unrealistic, of course she wants a husband...lol)
Just, if he send me no husband; for the which
blessing I am at him upon my knees every morning and
evening. Lord, I could not endure a husband with a
beard on his face: I had rather lie in the woollen.
LEONATO ( A clever remark, he is quite pleased with himself when he says it as he steps forward and looks at the audience as he says it. Then either the laugh track plays or the crowd laughs over it.)
You may light on a husband that hath no beard.
BEATRICE (Beatrice takes this joke a little too seriously, not in an offensive way, she just goes off on a tangent and starts to talk about how she doesn't want a boyfriend, really all this is is yapping. It doesn't mean much.)
What should I do with him? dress him in my apparel
and make him my waiting-gentlewoman? He that hath a
beard is more than a youth, and he that hath no
beard is less than a man: and he that is more than
a youth is not for me, and he that is less than a
man, I am not for him: therefore, I will even take
sixpence in earnest of the bear-ward, and lead his
apes into hell.
LEONATO (He plays off of her joke in an attempt to make the comedy roll)
Well, then, go you into hell?
BEATRICE ( Now it is not a joke, it is an elaborate story, the details of which come to Beatrice's head right before she says it.)
No, but to the gate; and there will the devil meet
me, like an old cuckold, with horns on his head, and
say 'Get you to heaven, Beatrice, get you to
heaven; here's no place for you maids:' so deliver
I up my apes, and away to Saint Peter for the
heavens; he shows me where the bachelors sit, and
there live we as merry as the day is long.
ANTONIO (Just chiming in, he speaks lowly and quickly to get his point across. He is the quiet one, we realize that with this line by the way he says it.)
[To HERO] Well, niece, I trust you will be ruled
by your father.
BEATRICE (Strongly, she finishes with her last statement, she is pleased that she carried the conversation out like this, the door opens as more students begin to walk in and split up into their respective gender groups.)
Yes, faith; it is my cousin's duty to make curtsy
and say 'Father, as it please you.' But yet for all
that, cousin, let him be a handsome fellow, or else
make another curtsy and say 'Father, as it please
me.'
LEONATO ( He is trying to be nice, He knows what she really wants, but he is sort of sneaky about it. He just kind of leaves what she has said alone as the crowd enters.)
Well, niece, I hope to see you one day fitted with a husband.
(the lights go dim over the whole stage as the mingling of the boys with boys and the girls with girls begins. There is party music playing very loudly in the background, rendering the sounds made by the characters impossible to hear. Also, everyone puts on their elaborate masks, a combination of that and a very dark room leads to overall confusion about who people are, as well as a complete unawareness that people don't know who they are.)
2.
(After the awkward silence is broken, pairs of dancers begin to form as they try to perform the dancing they learned in P.E. class that week. The dance music is playing quielty in the background so you can hear the talking, and while all the characters are on stage, the spotlight hits the couple that is at center stage and is talking. So like here the light is on DP and Hero. everyone else is dancing in the background)
DON PEDRO ( Don Pedro is Claudio's best friend, he is smooth with the ladies and is helping out his best bud Claudio, he kind of likes hero but sent in Pedro to see of she likes him back. So, he is super smooth, well as smooth as a seventh grader can get.)
Lady, will you walk about with your friend?
HERO (taken somewhat by surprise, she knows that Claudio likes her so she can assume that the person dancing with her is Claudio. She acts very sweet though, like she kind of likes him)
So you walk softly and look sweetly and say nothing,
I am yours for the walk; and especially when I walk away.
DON PEDRO (He is wearing a suit with a ruffled collar and no tie, or whatever is cool to wear at 7th grade dances.)
With me in your company?
HERO (A beautiful young girl, dressed in a simple blue dress. She is reserved and quiet, the kind that people would really like when she gets to like high school)
I may say so, when I please.
DON PEDRO (He is woeing her sort of, but he has figured out that she like Claudio)
And when please you to say so?
HERO
When I like your favour; for God defend the lute
should be like the case!
DON PEDRO
My visor is Philemon's roof; within the house is Jove.
HERO
Why, then, your visor should be thatched.
DON PEDRO (He has got her for Claudio)
Speak low, if you speak love.
Lady, will you walk about with your friend?
HERO (taken somewhat by surprise, she knows that Claudio likes her so she can assume that the person dancing with her is Claudio. She acts very sweet though, like she kind of likes him)
So you walk softly and look sweetly and say nothing,
I am yours for the walk; and especially when I walk away.
DON PEDRO (He is wearing a suit with a ruffled collar and no tie, or whatever is cool to wear at 7th grade dances.)
With me in your company?
HERO (A beautiful young girl, dressed in a simple blue dress. She is reserved and quiet, the kind that people would really like when she gets to like high school)
I may say so, when I please.
DON PEDRO (He is woeing her sort of, but he has figured out that she like Claudio)
And when please you to say so?
HERO
When I like your favour; for God defend the lute
should be like the case!
DON PEDRO
My visor is Philemon's roof; within the house is Jove.
HERO
Why, then, your visor should be thatched.
DON PEDRO (He has got her for Claudio)
Speak low, if you speak love.
(they move aside, still together danging at the front left of the stage, the spotlight goes off for a few seconds while the music crescendos and decrescendos as the next couple Margaret and Balthasar come together.
BALTHASAR (Balthasar and Margaret are the more "mature" people of the grade. They do more than any 7th grader should.)
Well, I would you did like me.
MARGARET (Margaret is dressed in a really short dress, she has received crap about it from all kinds of teachers, but her parents insisted. She has a certain, i don't care attitude.)
So would not I, for your own sake; for I have many
ill-qualities.
BALTHASAR ( In a somewhat meaningful exchange, Balthasar and Margaret agree to like each other and this is where Balthasar lets Margaret know that he likes her. But his voice is free of nerves.)
Which is one?
MARGARET
I say my prayers aloud.
BALTHASAR
I love you the better: the hearers may cry, Amen.
MARGARET (She kind of shoots Balthasar down when he attempts to dance with her, so they don't dance for a very long time.)
God match me with a good dancer!
BALTHASAR
Amen.
MARGARET
And God keep him out of my sight when the dance is
done! Answer, clerk.
BALTHASAR
No more words: the clerk is answere
Well, I would you did like me.
MARGARET (Margaret is dressed in a really short dress, she has received crap about it from all kinds of teachers, but her parents insisted. She has a certain, i don't care attitude.)
So would not I, for your own sake; for I have many
ill-qualities.
BALTHASAR ( In a somewhat meaningful exchange, Balthasar and Margaret agree to like each other and this is where Balthasar lets Margaret know that he likes her. But his voice is free of nerves.)
Which is one?
MARGARET
I say my prayers aloud.
BALTHASAR
I love you the better: the hearers may cry, Amen.
MARGARET (She kind of shoots Balthasar down when he attempts to dance with her, so they don't dance for a very long time.)
God match me with a good dancer!
BALTHASAR
Amen.
MARGARET
And God keep him out of my sight when the dance is
done! Answer, clerk.
BALTHASAR
No more words: the clerk is answere
(They move aside and talk/dance/stand next to the dancing Hero and DP. The lights get dim again as the music goes up and down as the next couple assembles in the spotlight.)
URSULA (Ursula is a pretty random girl in the grade, she is on of Hero's best friends. Antonio is just dancing with her to dance. No real meaning. Ursula is smart though. She is wearing a black dress with a mask and already knows who she is dancing with)
I know you well enough; you are Signior Antonio.
ANTONIO ( He is joking around with her, he sounds light, comedic.)
At a word, I am not.
URSULA (She is simply playing into a joke. Trying to provide some light humor to lessen the awkwardness of the random match up now that all the excitement in the mystery of your partner had been taken out.)
I know you by the waggling of your head.
ANTONIO ( '' Dang, you got me")
To tell you true, I counterfeit him.
URSULA ( She is pleased, and is enjoying herself)
You could never do him so ill-well, unless you were
the very man. Here's his dry hand up and down: you
are he, you are he.
ANTONIO
At a word, I am not.
URSULA
Come, come, do you think I do not know you by your
excellent wit? can virtue hide itself? Go to,
mum, you are he: graces will appear, and there's an
end.
As their talking ends, they shift from center stage to the spot next to wear Balthasar and Margaret are talking. The music transition happens again, and Beatrice and Claudio come together. under the spotlight in center stage. The three groups of revelers on the side of the stage now fade back into the rest of the party. A grand spotlight shines on Beatrice and Bendick as they come together at the front of the center of the stage. The music really drops down now.
3.
(Benedick is dressed in a blue button down with light Khakis, all the light and focus is on the couple who come together to dance. Beatrice is somewhat aware of the identity of her partner, but the same cannot be said for Benedick)
BEATRICE
Will you not tell me who told you so?BENEDICK
No, you shall pardon me.
BEATRICE
Nor will you not tell me who you are?
BENEDICK
Not now.
BEATRICE (Somewhat sure of her partner, she continues to talk trash about Benedick to her partner in an attempt to continue the way she has acted towards him so far in the play.)
That I was disdainful, and that I had my good wit
out of the 'Hundred Merry Tales:'--well this was
Signior Benedick that said so.
BENEDICK (He knows now that his partner is Beatrice, but he will not reveal it so he can know what she "really" thinks about him.)
What's he?
BEATRICE
I am sure you know him well enough.
BENEDICK
Not I, believe me.
BEATRICE
Did he never make you laugh?
BENEDICK
I pray you, what is he?
BEATRICE (Have fun with this, you are openly bashing the guy to his face and he has to just sit there and take it. Have fun with it!)
Why, he is the prince's jester: a very dull fool;
only his gift is in devising impossible slanders:
none but libertines delight in him; and the
commendation is not in his wit, but in his villany;
for he both pleases men and angers them, and then
they laugh at him and beat him. I am sure he is in
the fleet: I would he had boarded me.
BENEDICK (Act sort of disappointed but still interested.)
When I know the gentleman, I'll tell him what you say.
BEATRICE
Do, do: he'll but break a comparison or two on me;
which, peradventure not marked or not laughed at,
strikes him into melancholy; and then there's a
partridge wing saved, for the fool will eat no
supper that night.
Music( The Music loudens)
We must follow the leaders.
BENEDICK
In every good thing.
BEATRICE
Nay, if they lead to any ill, I will leave them at
the next turning.
(The dance ends with a blur of children dancing around the room and the lights come up, then all exeunt except DJ, Borcahio, and Claudio.)
4.
DON JOHN ( He loves to cause mischief and he wants to throw everybody trough a few loops. He is in a black button down with black pants and black shoes. He doesn't smile much but even when he does it isn't very delighting.)
Sure my brother is amorous on Hero and hathwithdrawn her father to break with him about it.
The ladies follow her and but one visor remains.
BORACHIO (Borachio is one of Benedick's troublemaker friends, Benedick is a bully and a bully always has a couple of guys that follow him around and do bully things. Borachio is that mindless friend.)
And that is Claudio: I know him by his bearing.
DON JOHN
Are not you Signior Benedick?
CLAUDIO (Convincingly, as if his entire love life depended on it)
You know me well; I am he.
DON JOHN
Signior, you are very near my brother in his love:
he is enamoured on Hero; I pray you, dissuade him
from her: she is no equal for his birth: you may
do the part of an honest man in it.
CLAUDIO
How know you he loves her?
DON JOHN
I heard him swear his affection.
BORACHIO
So did I too; and he swore he would marry her to-night.
DON JOHN
Come, let us to the banquet.
Exeunt DON JOHN and BORACHIO
CLAUDIO (A little comedy here, a little 7th grader breaking out into a monologue like this, but in complete seriousness.)
Thus answer I in the name of Benedick,
But hear these ill news with the ears of Claudio.
'Tis certain so; the prince wooes for himself.
Friendship is constant in all other things
Save in the office and affairs of love:
Therefore, all hearts in love use their own tongues;
Let every eye negotiate for itself
And trust no agent; for beauty is a witch
Against whose charms faith melteth into blood.
This is an accident of hourly proof,
Which I mistrusted not. Farewell, therefore, Hero!
(He drops to a knee, grabbing his heart. the lights fade and the curtains draw.)
(Shortly after, they draw again as to not misinform the audience that the scene has ended early, Claudio still down, the spotlight reopens on him, and on benedick as he enters to comfort him)
5.
BENEDICK (what's wrong my friend? He has noticed his friends distress.)
Count Claudio?
CLAUDIO (Heartbroken, he has been royally had but has no idea. He is really down right now)
Yea, the same.
BENEDICK
Come, will you go with me?
CLAUDIO
Whither?
BENEDICK
Even to the next willow, about your own business,
county. What fashion will you wear the garland of?
about your neck, like an usurer's chain? or under
your arm, like a lieutenant's scarf? You must wear
it one way, for the prince hath got your Hero.
CLAUDIO
I wish him joy of her.
BENEDICK ( There is disbelief in his voice, a sort of undertone of contempt for Don John, and a hint of hospitality.)
Why, that's spoken like an honest drovier: so they
sell bullocks. But did you think the prince would
have served you thus?
CLAUDIO (Now he thinks that Benedick is messing with him too, which hurts his mood.)
I pray you, leave me.
BENEDICK ( Now he is speaking with straight up desperation, trying to convince his friend that he is wrong)
Ho! now you strike like the blind man: 'twas the
boy that stole your meat, and you'll beat the post.
CLAUDIO
If it will not be, I'll leave you.
Exit
BENEDICK ( Struck with the same kind of heartbreak as Claudio knowing that his friend isn't seeing the truth and such a great truth!)
Alas, poor hurt fowl! now will he creep into sedges.
But that my Lady Beatrice should know me, and not
know me! The prince's fool! Ha? It may be I go
under that title because I am merry. Yea, but so I
am apt to do myself wrong; I am not so reputed: it
is the base, though bitter, disposition of Beatrice
that puts the world into her person and so gives me
out. Well, I'll be revenged as I may.
( The Lights go down, and everyone remains in the scene talking, quietly, in the background lighting for a little. Then the music fades, the curtains draw, and Scene 1 ends)
Scene 2
6.Scene two, After the party, Don John approaches Borachio privately. They are still dressed in their party clothing but are now indoors. They sit at a table across from each other.
Enter DON JOHN and BORACHIO
DON JOHN (He says interestingly, as if he is upset, he sees an opportunity.)
It is so; the Count Claudio shall marry the
daughter of Leonato.
BORACHIO (In an extremely brown nosed fashion)
Yea, my lord; but I can cross it.
DON JOHN ( He speaks as if he doesn't really believe that he can do it.)
Any bar, any cross, any impediment will be
medicinable to me: I am sick in displeasure to him,
and whatsoever comes athwart his affection ranges
evenly with mine. How canst thou cross this marriage?
BORACHIO ( Trying to convince him as if his reputation depended on it)
Not honestly, my lord; but so covertly that no
dishonesty shall appear in me.
DON JOHN
Show me briefly how.
BORACHIO
I think I told your lordship a year since, how much
I am in the favour of Margaret, the waiting
gentlewoman to Hero.
DON JOHN (In a dreadfully sarcastic tone.)
I remember.
BORACHIO
I can, at any unseasonable instant of the night,
appoint her to look out at her lady's chamber window.
DON JOHN
What life is in that, to be the death of this marriage?
BORACHIO ( After he finishes his statement, Don John nods and Borachio leaves the room rather hastily, he is very excited about all of this. Don John sits at the table, takes a sip of hot chocolate, smiles, and chuckles in pleasure because he likes the plan, Silently, the curtains draw and scene 2 ends)
The poison of that lies in you to temper. Go you to
the prince your brother; spare not to tell him that
he hath wronged his honour in marrying the renowned
Claudio--whose estimation do you mightily hold
up--to a contaminated stale, such a one as Hero.
Scene 3.
7.( This is at the same time as Don John and Borachio's encounter. All still in party attire, Benedick, Balthasar, Leonato, Claudio, and Don Pedro have gathered to hang out after the party. They're all a little tipsy and very rowdy, sitting in a garden, outside where there noise isnt a bother.
BENEDICK (Screaming and slapping the table.)
Now, divine air! now is his soul ravished! Is it
not strange that sheeps' guts should hale souls out
of men's bodies? Well, a horn for my money, when
all's done.
The Song
BALTHASAR (unable to perform the song correctly, Balthasar stumbles accordingly to his drunkenness towards the begging, but with feeling towards the end)
Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
Men were deceivers ever,
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never:
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into Hey nonny, nonny.
Sing no more ditties, sing no moe,
Of dumps so dull and heavy;
The fraud of men was ever so,
Since summer first was leafy:
Then sigh not so, & c.
DON PEDRO (Impressed)
By my troth, a good song.
BALTHASAR (A clever joke)
And an ill singer, my lord.
DON PEDRO (Slapping that table with a big hearty laugh)
Ha, no, no, faith; thou singest well enough for a shift.
BENEDICK (Continuing the joke and touching DP as if he is seeking approval to add to the joke.)
An he had been a dog that should have howled thus,
they would have hanged him: and I pray God his bad
voice bode no mischief. I had as lief have heard the
night-raven, come what plague could have come after
it.
DON PEDRO (There is some foreshadowing here with the mention of Hero's chamber and there is special emphasis put on that part of the speech.)
Yea, marry, dost thou hear, Balthasar? I pray thee,
get us some excellent music; for to-morrow night we
would have it at the Lady Hero's chamber-window.
BALTHASAR
The best I can, my lord.
DON PEDRO (AS Balthasar runs off , DP doesn't really see him off, he just turns around and continues his and Benedick's walk through the garden.)
Do so: farewell.
8. As part of their plan to throw Benedick and Beatrice together, The gang walks through the garden after the party and pretends to have a private conversation in which they know that Benedick is listening. They talk about how Beatrice "loves" him.
LEONATO (croucing in a group as Beenedick runs across the stage jumping from cover to cover attempting to listen in on the conversation. The group walks horizontally across the stage starting off stage right. There is no spotlight, just a well lit stage in which you can see all the characters. the group stops in the middle and talks sort of loudly, to assure that Benedick hears them)
Come hither, Leonato. What was it you told me of
to-day, that your niece Beatrice was in love with
Signior Benedick?
CLAUDIO
O, ay: stalk on. stalk on; the fowl sits. I did
never think that lady would have loved any man.
LEONATO
No, nor I neither; but most wonderful that she
should so dote on Signior Benedick, whom she hath in
all outward behaviors seemed ever to abhor.
BENEDICK ( pooping his head out of cover to affirm his thoughts)
Is't possible? Sits the wind in that corner?
LEONATO
By my troth, my lord, I cannot tell what to think
of it but that she loves him with an enraged
affection: it is past the infinite of thought.
DON PEDRO (almost laughing)
May be she doth but counterfeit.
CLAUDIO
Faith, like enough.
LEONATO (Thr irony of the line causes him to laugh, the laughter is very obviously inorganic to the conversation normally)
O God, counterfeit! There was never counterfeit of
passion came so near the life of passion as she
discovers it.
DON PEDRO
Why, what effects of passion shows she?
CLAUDIO
Bait the hook well; this fish will bite.
LEONATO
What effects, my lord? She will sit you, you heard
my daughter tell you how.
CLAUDIO (Smiling, he turns to the audience to deliver the line, then the speech is muted and all you can see are the expressions on them as they sucessfully trick Benedick.
She did, indeed.
9. After the montage of the rest of the convincing ends, the group exits through the right of the stage, and benedick takes center. the lights go down and a spotlight hits him.)
Exeunt DON PEDRO, CLAUDIO, and LEONATO
BENEDICK
[Coming forward] This can be no trick: the
conference was sadly borne. They have the truth of
this from Hero. They seem to pity the lady: it
seems her affections have their full bent. Love me!
why, it must be requited. I hear how I am censured:
they say I will bear myself proudly, if I perceive
the love come from her; they say too that she will
rather die than give any sign of affection. I did
never think to marry: I must not seem proud: happy
are they that hear their detractions and can put
them to mending. They say the lady is fair; 'tis a
truth, I can bear them witness; and virtuous; 'tis
so, I cannot reprove it; and wise, but for loving
me; by my troth, it is no addition to her wit, nor
no great argument of her folly, for I will be
horribly in love with her. I may chance have some
odd quirks and remnants of wit broken on me,
because I have railed so long against marriage: but
doth not the appetite alter? a man loves the meat
in his youth that he cannot endure in his age.
Shall quips and sentences and these paper bullets of
the brain awe a man from the career of his humour?
No, the world must be peopled. When I said I would
die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I
were married. Here comes Beatrice. By this day!
she's a fair lady: I do spy some marks of love in
her.
BENEDICK
[Coming forward] This can be no trick: the
conference was sadly borne. They have the truth of
this from Hero. They seem to pity the lady: it
seems her affections have their full bent. Love me!
why, it must be requited. I hear how I am censured:
they say I will bear myself proudly, if I perceive
the love come from her; they say too that she will
rather die than give any sign of affection. I did
never think to marry: I must not seem proud: happy
are they that hear their detractions and can put
them to mending. They say the lady is fair; 'tis a
truth, I can bear them witness; and virtuous; 'tis
so, I cannot reprove it; and wise, but for loving
me; by my troth, it is no addition to her wit, nor
no great argument of her folly, for I will be
horribly in love with her. I may chance have some
odd quirks and remnants of wit broken on me,
because I have railed so long against marriage: but
doth not the appetite alter? a man loves the meat
in his youth that he cannot endure in his age.
Shall quips and sentences and these paper bullets of
the brain awe a man from the career of his humour?
No, the world must be peopled. When I said I would
die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I
were married. Here comes Beatrice. By this day!
she's a fair lady: I do spy some marks of love in
her.
Enter BEATRICE
BEATRICE
Against my will I am sent to bid you come in to dinner.
BENEDICK ( Impulsively)
Fair Beatrice, I thank you for your pains.
BEATRICE (What the heck is going ??)
I took no more pains for those thanks than you take
pains to thank me: if it had been painful, I would
not have come.
BENEDICK
You take pleasure then in the message?
BEATRICE (cut it out weirdo)
Yea, just so much as you may take upon a knife's
point and choke a daw withal. You have no stomach,
signior: fare you well.
Exit
BENEDICK
Ha! 'Against my will I am sent to bid you come in
to dinner;' there's a double meaning in that 'I took
no more pains for those thanks than you took pains
to thank me.' that's as much as to say, Any pains
that I take for you is as easy as thanks. If I do
not take pity of her, I am a villain; if I do not
love her, I am a Jew. I will go get her picture.
Exit
BEATRICE
Against my will I am sent to bid you come in to dinner.
BENEDICK ( Impulsively)
Fair Beatrice, I thank you for your pains.
BEATRICE (What the heck is going ??)
I took no more pains for those thanks than you take
pains to thank me: if it had been painful, I would
not have come.
BENEDICK
You take pleasure then in the message?
BEATRICE (cut it out weirdo)
Yea, just so much as you may take upon a knife's
point and choke a daw withal. You have no stomach,
signior: fare you well.
Exit
BENEDICK
Ha! 'Against my will I am sent to bid you come in
to dinner;' there's a double meaning in that 'I took
no more pains for those thanks than you took pains
to thank me.' that's as much as to say, Any pains
that I take for you is as easy as thanks. If I do
not take pity of her, I am a villain; if I do not
love her, I am a Jew. I will go get her picture.
Exit
( He paces ferociously during this speech, he also speaks impulsively, as if every statement is a new discovery that he has made. he uses his hands a lot to show how he is feeling. there is a ton of emotion packed into this speech, he his supposed to be making a big step and like renouncing his ways so make it really big and grand) The curtains draw about 3 seconds after he finishes and jolly fully runs around the stage. The Curtains close on him running around and cheering excitedly)
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