Y13 TEXTS AND GENRES LITB3 - 'WUTHERING HEIGHTS'

Wuthering Heights

Listen: on Sunday 27th March on BBC Radio 3 at 20:00

A new adaptation by Jonathan Holloway of Emily Bronte's great novel of violent obsession. Heathcliff and Catherine have entered the world's imagination as great lovers. Yet they kiss once only. Dante Gabriel Rossetti described the story as: 'A fiend of a book. The action is laid in Hell - only it seems places and people have English names there.' There is extraordinary, almost unbelievable cruelty and madness in the story and yet its extremes grip us with an intensity, and each generation since the book was first published in 1847 has taken something different from this story of the ultimately doomed lovers and their disasters.

This adaptation contains strong language, which is not what you read in the book, or is it?  An article in The Guardian about this particular production garnered some interesting debate.  One contributor felt that there is already quite a lot of swearing in Wuthering Heights depending on the sensibilities of each particular narrator; moreover, that it is easy to reconstruct the swear words behind the Victorian dashes and asterisks.  What do you think?  Listen to the production and see if the strong language alters your percrptions of any of the characters, particularly Lockwood. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/mar/22/radio-3-classic-literature-swearing
.

YEAR 13 - LITB3 TEXTS AND GENRES - 'DR FAUSTUS'

 Make sure you complete the essay
set in the last lesson for
Monday the 21st of March:
'What have you found striking

about Marlowe'spresentation 

of Mephistopheles and Hell in

Dr Faustus?'

Look carefully at  the notes
you were given that outlined
possible content and also
the best way to structure your
response. Not forgetting that
I want to see a plan! You need,
at this stage, to be clear
about exactly what elements
are needed:  to answer the
question (very, very important!);
develop your argument and
point of view - supported with
quotations; and make sure
that you have covered
all of the AOs - 1,2,3 and 4
(see below for details of each one).

By choosing black magic Faustus believes he will be able to do fantastical things, which are otherwise beyond his already considerable abilities.  To do so he renounces God, therefore commits blasphemy and as a corollary, the devil Mephistopheles appears before him.  Although his friends Valdes and Cornelius, who primarily practise white magic, told Faustus that demons can assume whatever shape they desire, Mephistopheles (interestingly, specifically chosen by Faustus)  appears to him  in his most horrific and grotesque form.  Faustus, unable to bear the sight of Mephistopheles in that guise, orders him to assume the appearance of a Catholic Friar as "That holy shape becomes a devil best."  Faustus is taking an antinomian [the belief that moral laws are relative in meaning and application - your vocabulary is going to be outstanding!] approach to the situation, regarding evil as good and good as evil. . .

Assessment Objectives

AO1 - Articulate creative, informed and relevant responses to literary texts, using appropriate terminology and concepts, and coherent, accurate written expression.  

 AO2 - Demonstrate detailed critical understanding in analysing the ways in which structure, form and language shape meanings in literary texts.  Make sure you listen again to the download on structure, form and language, or check the transcribed notes you were given.

 AO3 - Explore connections and comparisons between different literary texts, informed by interpretations of other readers. 


AO4 - Demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received. I will have more detailed notes on the AOs to hand out on Monday, or I will send them to you via email.

THOMAS HARDY 'THE GOING'

Y13 TEXTS AND GENRES LITB3 - THE GOTHIC - 'DR FAUSTUS'

We are making fantastic progress through the book, and all of you are clearly enjoying and understanding what is actually a very complex play -  very well done!  Bearing that in mind, I think it is time that we looked towards producing the dreaded essays.  Let's start with: 'What have you found striking about Marlowe's presentation of Mephistopheles and Hell in Dr Faustus?  You have already got the notes from the activity we completed on - Mephistopheles 'sweet friend' or 'accursed spirit,' and I will go through more during both Monday and Tuesday's lessons.  The Old Man will need to be a part of any answer, so read ahead to his entrance and speeches, and bring your thoughts, ideas and opinions to the classes.


Marlowe's presentation of Hell also includes the Seven Deadly Sins; follow the link to look at images of the same: http://atheism.about.com/od/christianhistory/ig/Seven-Deadly-Sins-Punishments/Deadly-Sin-Sloth-Punishment.htm
                                                                     

 The Sin of Pride was thought to be the most serious of the Seven Deadly Sins, and was responsible for Lucifer being thrown out of Heaven:

F: 'How comes it then that he is Prince of devils?

Meph: 'O,by aspiring pride and insolence;

 

                                                                                         
 'Punishing the Gluttonous: punishment in
  Hell for the Deadly Sin of Gluttony is to be
  force fed Rats, Toads and Snakes.'  
  Not exactly 'belly cheer' is it?

Also find supernatural and fantastic images of the Mouth of Hell, which will also need to be included in your essay; this might be a good place to start:

http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=zz8&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&biw=984&bih=671&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=the+mouth+of+hell&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=g2&aql=&oq=



  For the next lesson look again at the YouTube clips from the Royal Exchange's production in the Blog's archive, and read ahead through the next scenes with the Emperor, his Knight and the horns - what do the Knight's comments (and the tone in which they are made) about Faustus's 'magic' reveal?  Does the Knight's presence emphasise the great respect that Faustus commands, or the rather the cynicism?  Does it reinforce the audience's feeling that Faustus is a mighty god or that he is nothing more than a lowly conjuror - was this what he wanted at the beginning, has he achieved his aims?

 

                                     KNIGHT: "Thou damned wretch and execrable dog"

Y12 LITB1 ASPECTS OF NARRATIVE - 'THE GREAT GATSBY'

Gatsby's view to East Egg and Daisy is about to change forever.  The mansion that inspired the novel is about to be torn down.  The property seems as doomed as Fitzgerald's party-loving protagonists.  Professor Ruth Prigozy, a specialist on the author, said in an interview that it was probable that Fitzgerald used the physical aspects of Land's End as a template for East Egg: "It was the view. . .That's what set it apart." To read more follow the link:    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/beautiful-but-damned-the-house-that-inspired-gatsby-22

'Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water'  

'Their house was even more elaborate that I expected, a. . .white Georgian colonial mansion, overlooking the bay.  The lawn started at the beach and ran towards the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sundials and brick walks and burning gardens. . .the front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with a reflected gold and wide open to the warm windy afternoon' (Chapter 1 p.6).

'. . .he stretched out his arms towards the dark waters in a curious way, and far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling.  Involuntarily I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single green light. . . that might have been the end of the a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness' (Ch. 1 p.16).

This week we will be focusing on Chapter 4, where, amongst other things, we see how the car is central to the novel and is used 'both as a symbol of the new civilization and, even more daringly, as a dynamic part of the plot'.  When Gatsby and Nick drive past Port Roosevelt glimpsing the liners, 'sped along a cobbled slum,' through the valley of ashes and 'over the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker' (one of many oxymorons, including the ''ferocious delicacy'  (p.46) with which Wolfsheim eats his lunch, showing that his wolfish nature is always present, even when his manners are delicate.  There is far more beneath the surface of Wolfsheim than we can yet see) into the delicious confection that is New York 'the city rising up  across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps.'  We see how some commentators feel that Fitzgerald has taken this modernist narrative and allied it with a cinematic and photographic form (coming very much to the fore at this period); its rapid, concise scenes 'echo the urgent rhythm of film', whilst its visual immediacy creates a photographic picture quality a 'catalogue of vignettes' (Introduction by Guy Reynolds).

                                                                                                                                            

Valley of ashes

'Sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker'

Queensboro bridge 'Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridge,' I thought; 'anything at all . . .'

New York in he '30s

Also in this chapter we need to look again at how Nick narrates and shapes the story of Jay Gatsby; what is he like, and what does he do, as narrator?  Critics are split into 2 main groups: those who see him as the moral consciousness of the novel; the hero who also learns from his experiences; a reliable, honest and trustworthy narrator.  However, others see him as unperceptive, without insight, self-deceiving, snobbish and ultimately unreliable.  What do you think?  Is Nick a reliable narrator, do we trust all that he tells us?  Do we believe and trust his judgements about the other characters and  situations.  Do we really feel that he is a man of good character? Bring your thoughts and opinions to the lesson so we can debate and decide.

Have a look at the University of South Carolina's Scott Fitzgerald centenary webpage; it has a lot of useful information including articles and essays, and  a copy of a short story written by Fitzgerald  entitled Winter Dreams, which has a similar theme to TGG: http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/

The fist part of this documentary is revealing about where Fitzgerald found his inspiration for many of the themes within The Great Gatsby; there are 8 other parts, but this is a useful start:

For a quick 60 second recap of the motifs of the novel then watch the followng video, it's really quite useful for the aspects of narrative; which is actually what we are supposed to be studying - those all important  'authorial methods!'




I admit she is beginning to get annoying now; but stick with her, these next two are good and there are others on YouTube that you may, if you can stand that voice and manner, find useful.

Y12 LITB1 ASPECTS OF NARRATIVE - 'THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER'

Before we go any further you need to view the following video to gain an insight into Coleridge's involvement in the Romantic movement and what effect that had on his poetry, particularly on 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'



So you can listen to the poem either in college or at home, here's the the poem read by Richard Burton (in three parts).  There can be no excuses for not knowing every word: assonance, alliteration and repetition can only help matters!

YEAR 13 - LITB3 TEXTS AND GENRES - 'THE BLOODY CHAMBER'

The 'liquid cascade ' of the vampire's pet songbird disarms the hero completely as he stands on the threshold of entry to 'Juliet's tomb' (allusion to Shakespeare's  Romeo and Juliet).

Y13 TEXTS AND GENRES LITB3 - 'WUTHERING HEIGHTS'

 I know that you've all got plenty of work to do, but I don't want any of you to lose track of the work we've already done on 'Wuthering Heights'- so try to re-read the first three chapters, make notes of some of the most Gothic quotations, and also make an attempt to read the introduction to the novel. We'll discuss both in either the 1-2-1s on Monday or in the revision class on Wednesday afternoon - we really need to keep up the momentum!

Don't forget Joyce Carol Oates' essay on 'Wuthering Heights' just follow the link: http://jco.usfca.edu/wuthering.html

As Lockwood  informs us, the readers, the name of Wuthering Heights is in itself portentous: '"Wuthering" being a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station is exposed in stormy weather.'   The location of the house places upon those who live there, a symbolic weight of disturbance, disharmony and harshness.  'A perfect misanthropist's Heaven.'

Year 13 LITB4 - 'ORANGES ARE NOT THE ONLY FRUIT'

 
For those of you still doing your
coursework then follow this link
to see an interview with Jeanette Winterson which
should prove interesting and might even be useful:http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/writers/12220.shtml

There is also an interview with Margaret Atwood which is esy to find once you've got to the site.

  
LITB 2  Dramatic Genres: Tragedy  - OTHELLO

 If any of you are still struggling with your Othello coursework, then the following links may be of some help:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUhIbAcxG2Q&feature=related 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLY5ESkKaRI&feature=related

Some of you in Y13  may not have seen the Anthony Hopkins production, Y12 have, but these clips are well worth watching as the discussion is particularly thought provoking.

We've discussed the stage performances as they would have appeared during Shakespeare's (and Marlowe's) time, and looked at still images, but watch this clip of Act 5 scene 2  performed recently at the Globe theatre: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUKGesWwT6k

YEAR 13 - LITB3 TEXTS AND GENRES - 'DR FAUSTUS'

The Tragical History of Dr Faustus 

This sublime tragedy in blank verse, with comic episodes in prose, resembles, as we discussed, a medieval morality play in that its main theme is Faustus's sacrifice of his soul to the devil (represented by Mephistopheles) for the sake of unlimited power, glory and enjoyment in this world for 24 years (make notes on all that Faustus says and hopes that the selling of his soul will give him, and let's see if it happens).  It is also Renaissance, certainly in its convincing treatment of the conflict of choice (something that would not have been done in a morality play), and in its psychology, not just of Faustus but also of Mephistopheles, which is presented with moving insight.  You were all intrigued by the character of Mephistopheles and were asking thoughtful questions about his character and his relationship with Faustus- very well done JE!  I'd like you to re-read Scene 3 before next Monday's lesson and, as always, bring your thoughts, ideas and opinions!


Watch the video of the making of the Royal Exchange Theatre's production of 'Dr Faustus' - see  how Patrick O'Kane (Faustus) and Ian Redford (Mephistopheles) prepared for the performance: very useful for revision.  They obviously had a great professional rapport and relationship, does that make a difference in the performance, and do you think that that is part of the relationship between Faustus and Mephistopheles?  Then watch the trailer - it's 'ravishing' and makes you wish you could see it all again.  The photo-montage is also useful for putting faces to characters from this production rather than the current DVD that we're looking at.









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