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 Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 6:32 am Post subject: Much Ado About Nothing: Rhythm and Rhetoric |
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Assigned FRIDAY. Due MONDAY.
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What: In this paper, you will study dialogue content, punctuation, sound, and rhythm to reflect on the interplay of rhetorical content and emotion in the dialogue of one of the scenes listed below. What do the characters say and why? How nuanced are their statements? How steadfast are the characters about pursuing their respective rhetorical goals? How are the statements uttered? What kind of emotions do they unleash in the speaker? Is the message impacted by these emotions? What kind of response do they provoke in other characters?
Once you have addressed these issues (not necessarily in this order), I would like you to choose another scene from the play featuring the same character or characters. Do they use a similar rhetorical/rhythmic pattern? Or is their dramatic expression markedly different? Finish your paper with a hypothesis accounting for the sustained or altered dramatic expression of the character(s).
Why: Shakespeare's drama is spoken speech: elaborate and highly crafted, but exempt from the rules and regulations of writing. There are certain formal expectations about this speech: that aristocratic characters can switch between crafted prose and stately blank verse, unlike the lower-class characters who stick to prose; that rhyming lines, especially short ones of two or three beats signal the presence of the supernatural. There are also expectations about content: that a sentence is a distinct step in a rhetorical argument (whether intellectual or emotional), that the statements of aristocratic characters are balanced and symmetrical, unlike the jumbled speech of lower-class characters. All of these expectations are, of course, broken in the dialogue under the impact of surging emotions. To understand where, how, and why this happens, it is important to attend to the sound and rhythm of the characters' speech.
How: Pick one of the following scenes (line numbers keyed to Cambridge edition): 1.1.216-54, 4.1.67-104, 4.1.247-316, 5.2.18-70, 5.4.35-69. Read the scene carefully in the edition of Much Ado you're using in class. What are the characters talking about?
Then study the physiological punctuation of the scene in the First Folio. Things to think about: How balanced are the phrases (between commas) which comprise a statement (a sentence)? If the dialogue is in verse, what is the meter? Are there instances where the iambic pentameter has been broken? How balanced are the exchanges between the characters? Do they share the rhythm of a single line (stichomythia)? Does one emerge as controlling the situation in the outcome of the scene? Are there additional aural elements drawing attention to the rhythmic irregularities (alliterations, assonances, internal or external rhymes)? How can you account for their presence in the line?
Take the same steps to analyze another scene of your choice with the same character(s).
Evaluation. When grading your paper, I will be taking into consideration:
How carefully you have thought about the rhetorical goals of the characters;
How carefully you have attended to the Folio punctuation to discern nuances/adjustments of their statements;
How attentive you have been to variations in prose and verse, line length, and rhythm;
How effectively you have accounted for the above mentioned variations;
Whether your conclusion suggests a hypothesis about the sustained or altered dramatic expression of a character or characters.
Don't forget a spiffy title! |
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gyrfalcon
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| Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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| That's just...evil. To do that to Shakespeare........ *gags* |
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