Wednesday 20 November 2013

MAJOR PLAYWRIGHT : WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE





William Shakespeare was born on 26 April 1564 in  in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He was well known as the greatest English writer,He managed to wrote about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and two long narrtive poem. He was admired by many people around the world of his impressive work. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men.Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. Most of his play are used the comedies and histories as the genre. In 16th century, he began to write the plays with tragedies genre. Among of his famous plays are Romeo and Juliet,Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights.William was die on 23 April 1616.

 Romeo and Julier is a tragedy  written early in the career of  William Shakespeare is  about two young lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime .Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal  young lovers. This is the synopsis of Romeo and Juliet:
    
The play, set in Verona, begins with a street brawl between Montague and Capulet  supporters who are sworn enemies. The Prince of Verona  intervenes and declares that further breach of the peace will be punishable by death. Later, Count Paris talks to Capulet about marrying his daughter, but Capulet asks Paris to wait another two years and invites him to attend a planned Capulet ball . Lady Capulet and Juliet's nurse try to persuade Juliet to accept Paris's courtship.


 

 Meanwhile, Benvolio  talks with his cousin Romeo , Montague's son, about Romeo's recent depression. Benvolio discovers that it stems from unrequited infatuation for a girl named Rosaline, one of Capulet's nieces. Persuaded by Benvolio and Mercutio, Romeo attends the ball at the Capulet house in hopes of meeting Rosaline. However, Romeo instead meets and falls in love with Juliet. However Romeo is noticed by Juliet's cousin,  Tybalt, who intends to kill him for sneaking into a Capulet ball but is only stopped by Juliet's father, who doesn't wish to shed blood in his house. After the ball, in what is now called the "balcony scene", Romeo sneaks into the Capulet orchard and overhears Juliet at her window vowing her love to him in spite of her family's hatred of the Montagues. Romeo makes himself known to her and they agree to be married. With the help of Friar Laurence , who hopes to reconcile the two families through their children's union, they are secretly married the next day.


Tybalt, meanwhile, still incensed that Romeo had sneaked into the Capulet ball, challenges him to a duel. Romeo, now considering Tybalt his kinsman, refuses to fight. Mercutio is offended by Tybalt's insolence, as well as Romeo's "vile submission,"and accepts the duel on Romeo's behalf. Mercutio is fatally wounded when Romeo attempts to break up the fight. Grief-stricken and wracked with guilt, Romeo confronts and slays Tybalt.
Montague argues that Romeo has justly executed Tybalt for the murder of Mercutio. The Prince, now having lost a kinsman in the warring families' feud, exiles Romeo from Verona, with threat of execution upon return. Romeo secretly spends the night in Juliet's chamber, where they consummate  their marriage. Capulet, misinterpreting Juliet's grief, agrees to marry her to Count Paris and threatens to disown her when she refuses to become Paris's "joyful bride.When she then pleads for the marriage to be delayed, her mother rejects her.
Juliet visits Friar Laurence for help, and he offers her a drug that will put her into a deathlike coma for "two and forty hours." The Friar promises to send a messenger to inform Romeo of the plan, so that he can rejoin her when she awakens. On the night before the wedding, she takes the drug and, when discovered apparently dead, she is laid in the family crypt.

The messenger, however, does not reach Romeo and, instead, Romeo learns of Juliet's apparent death from his servant Balthasar. Heartbroken, Romeo buys poison from an apothecary  and goes to the Capulet crypt.  He encounters Paris who has come to mourn Juliet privately. Believing Romeo to be a vandal, Paris confronts him and, in the ensuing battle, Romeo kills Paris. Still believing Juliet to be dead, he drinks the poison. Juliet then awakens and, finding Romeo dead, stabs herself with his dagger. The feuding families and the Prince meet at the tomb to find all three dead. Friar Laurence recounts the story of the two "star-cross'd lovers". The families are reconciled by their children's deaths and agree to end their violent feud. The play ends with the Prince's elegy for the lovers: "For never was a story of more woe / Than this of Juliet and her Romeo"


References :

  i) http://www.biography.com/people/william-shakespeare-9480323
  ii)  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare
  iii) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet













Monday 18 November 2013

MAJOR PLAYWRIGHT : SUSAN GLASPELL



Susan Glaspell was born on 1 July 1876 in  Davenport, Iowa. The only daughter of Elmer and Alice Gaspell couple, she received her degree in philosophy from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa and began to write for the Des Moines Daily News in 1899. She also did  wrote short stories for Youth's Companion, selling a total of forty-three stories over the next two decades, many of which were set in Freeport, the fictional version of Davenport. She married George Cram Cook in 1914 who was the theatrical director. This couple managed to form a theatrical group named Provincetown Player which became the most influential group in American drama. Susan was well known as the woman who rebelled against society’s expectations of women. In 1931 Glaspell won the Pulitzer Prize for her play Alison’s House

 Among of her famous works are Fidelity, in 1915,Trifles (1916) The Outside (1917), Inheritors (1921), Woman’s Honor (1918) Suppressed Desires (written with Cook in 1915), and  The Verge (1921). Talk about her most famous play,Trifles she wrote this play in 1916, basing this brief, one-act play on the murder of the sixty-year-old John Hossack, which she had covered extensively during her stint as a journalist with the Des Moines Daily News. Trifles was about the murder of John Wright and the men who involved in the investigation could not find any hint or clues related to this case. This play also exposed that the women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs.Peters ,that always been looked down by the society especially the men managed to find the clues even from small thing which men assumed them as kitchen things and accused women to worry over the trifles. The major themes in this play is men do not appreciate women which can be seen the men in this play  think they are tough, serious-minded detectives, when in truth they are not nearly as observant as the female characters. Their pompous attitude causes the women to feel defensive and form ranks. Not only do Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters bond, but they choose to hide evidence as an act of compassion for Mrs. Wright. Stealing the box with the dead bird is an act of loyalty to their gender and an act of defiance against a callous patriarchal society.


Susan Glaspell died on July 27, 1948 due to a pulmonary embolism at the age of 66. Susan wrote nine novels, fourteen plays, countless short stories and articles.

Monday 4 November 2013

TRIFFLES by SUSAN GLASPELL


Exploration of the text

1) Characterize Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter at the beginning of the play. How do they differ?

Mrs. Hale is a wife of the farmer, Mr.Hale. She also was a friend to Minnie Foster@ Mrs. Wright. While Mrs. Peteris the wife to the new comer sheriff,Mr.Henry Peter. There are several differences between Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peter. Mrs.Peter is a women who very loyal towards her husband just follow what he said since she married with the law. She also allow herself to be looked down by the men. At the first of this story, she does not want to tolerate about Mrs.Wright case due to the law,but after Mrs.Hale tell her about Minnie's experience, she changed her mind and keep silent. Mrs, Hale is the farmer's wife which braver than Mrs Peter and does not totally follow her husband instruction. She stands with her instinct to keep silent about the evidence on Minnie's action of killed her husband. She also does not want to be remain looking down by the men.


2) What clues lead the women to conclude that Minnie Wright killed her husband?

The women found the body of the dead canary with its neck has been wrung which is the same way as Mr. Wright has been killed and they make the conclusion that she killed her husband use the same way he killed her bird.Besides, they also found the ruined preserves fruit in the kitchen and unfinished quilt.


3) How do the men differ from the women? From each other?
Men always think about the serious matter and used to ignore the small things. While women will keep thinking and wondering about something even though it is only a common thing. For example in this play, the men said "Nothing here but kitchen things" which mean they never thought that it could be the clues for the murder case. But, women feel curious what is going to be happen by saw the way Mrs. Wright knitting the quilt.


4) What do the men discover? Why do the conclude  " Nothing here but kitchen things'? What do the women discover?

The men in this play only discover that Minnie Foster has killed her husband without they notice about the way and the reason why she did  the murder. The conclude is " Nothing here but kitchen things'' because the men cannot find any evidence through the kitchen things which for them is meaningless. While for the women, they found a few evidences in the kitchen. For instance, ruined fruit preserves and the bread that left out of the box.

















Sunday 27 October 2013

A Day With The Poet Mr. Refaat

It was a good sharing I guess from the experience poet like Mr.Refaat.

Below is the conversation between our classmates and Mr. Refaat :

1) Q : Who is your favorite poet?
    A : John Donne 

2)  Q:  The style of poem before the war at gaza? 
     A:  Same with other country. For example, love and so on.After the war,its  more to memories.

3) Q :  Do you stay in Palestine? Why do you write about Palestine?
    A : He lives in Gaza. To write a poem, does not have to be a person who in Palestine. Poet is used to the stories or retell by the others. He is actually inspired to write by his students.

4) Q :  The status of education at that place?
    A:   There are 5 universities. Majority the students are woman and less of guy. The ratio =3:2
           15 writers = 3man. 12 woman (active than guy)
 
5) Q :  What was the situation before the war?
    A :  It was simple. It was more to agriculture.
 
6) Q :  About the picture in the blog. Does it symbolize something?
    A : Yes. The olive oil represent the traditional medicine. Pick the olive is the best thing to do in that place.But,  after the war, they did not  get the opportunity to do it. Means spend time with family.

Sunday 20 October 2013

WORLD WAR 1 POEM : THE SURVIVORS BY SIEGFRIED SASSOON

NO doubt they'll soon get well; the shock and strain
  Have caused their stammering, disconnected talk.
Of course they're 'longing to go out again,'--
  These boys with old, scared faces, learning to walk.
They'll soon forget their haunted nights; their cowed
  Subjection to the ghosts of friends who died,--
Their dreams that drip with murder; and they'll be proud
  Of glorious war that shatter'd all their pride...
Men who went out to battle, grim and glad;
Children, with eyes that hate you, broken and mad
 
___________________________________________
  In his poem ‘Survivors’, Siegfried Sassoon gives the readers a satirical and paradoxical take on war and its effect on the soldiers who partake in it. This particular poem was written by Sassoon when he was spending his time in the Craiglockhart hospital where he was forced into convalescence due to his strong portrayal of anti- war emotions. On arriving at the hospital he was diagnosed with neurasthenia and had it not been for the work of his psychologist Dr. Rivers, Sassoon would have paved a tragic path to his self destruction. (Anaida D'souza)

         1) 'No doubt they'll soon get well'
The opening line gives the reader a sense of misleading hope. The throw- away feeling emphasised by the assured 'No doubt' calls to mind the sinister complacency of "Does It Matter?"
          2) 'stammering, disconnected talk'
One of the symptons of shell-shock or 'neurasthenia' (as it was then termed) is a stammer, and a failure to string sentences together coherently. The conditions of some of the patients at Craglockhart are described powerfully in 'Regeneration' the opening book to Pat Barker's WWI trilogy.
          3)  'Of course they're 'longing to go out again,''
Again the disassociated, unfeeling voice make its presence felt. The flippant remark, suggesting that all soldiers were willing to return to the front, is typical of the attitude Sassoon perceived in the non-combatants at home.
         4) 'These boys with old, scared faces'
Sassoon contrasts the youth and innocence of the soldiers with the ageing process of the war. Yet, although these men are made old before their time, they are also reduced to infants having to re-learn such basic processes as how to walk 
          5) 'They'll soon forget...of friends who died'
On Sassoon's return to England in April, 1917, after receiving an injury earlier that year, his anti-war sentiments reached new heights. Angered by the attitude he perceived in the people who remained in England, and troubled by visions and nightmares in which he saw corpses littering the streets, he was moved to publish his famous declaration  against the war, which ultimately led to his spell at Craiglockhart.
           6)  '- and they'll be proud/Of glorious war that shatter'd all their pride'
Again the poet presents us with a sense of hope, immediately reversed by a harsh reminder of brutal reality. The survivors, once they have managed to forget the nightmares and visions of their dead comrades, will then be able to reflect on the 'glorious war' with pride; but this, in turn, will remind them of their time spent overcoming the horror, when they had no self-esteem having been reduced to helpless children. 

            7) 'with eyes that hate you'
Sassoon ends the poem in an accusatory manner, no doubt directed at the supporters of the War, the people who can so easily push soldiers back to the front without ever knowing the horrors of trench warfare.

References:

*  http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/education/tutorials/intro/sassoon
*  http://theourownword.blogspot.com/2013/09/survivors-critical-analysis.html

Wednesday 16 October 2013

POEM: ~ WHAT WAR IS ALL ABOUT ~ BY TETSKE VAN DER WAL


War is evil
War is the devil
War is between politicians
War is about religions
War is destruction
War is not construction
War is depression
War is an obsession
War is fighting
War is killing
War is sorrow
War is no tomorrow
War is explosions
War is confusions
War is blood
War brings tears like a flood
War makes you cry
War makes you die
War is death all around
War makes you die on foreign ground
War is fire
War is not to admire!
War is creed
War is between different breed
War is cruel
War cost a lot of fuel
War is amputations
War is mutilations
War last forever
I wonder if it ends in Heaven
War is only release
For those who are killed
It means 'PEACE'




______________________________________________________



From my opinion, we can know that the persona hate war. He keeps mentioned about negative things about war. We can see his negative opinion even from the first line, "War is evil". He also stated that all the war was caused by the politician can give a really bad impact, "War is an obsession ,War is fighting,War is killing,War is sorrow". He also seems mocking about some believe that trust who ever died in war will be placed in the heaven. He stated "I wonder if it ends in Heaven , War is only release, For those who are killed,It means 'PEACE' ".
























Saturday 5 October 2013

~ :: POETRY & DRAMA ::~

What is Poetry?





 Poetry is  words arranged in a rhythmic pattern with regular accents (like beats in music), words which are carefully selected for sound, accent and meaning to express imaginatively ideas and emotions. Each poem
has rhythm, melody, imagery, and form.

There are 6 elements in poetry. They are :

                                                                        *     Voice
                                                                        *     Tone
                                                                        *     Theme
                                                                        *      Setting
                                                                        *      Imagery
                                                                        *      Figures of speech


VOICE:

One of the best methods of interpreting poetry is to define the voice, to discover as much as possible about its quality, mood, and concerns.From the voice, we can consider:

                                                                               # Who is the speaker?
                                                                               # What is the point of view?
                                                                               # What can you tell about the speaker?
                                                                               # To whom does the speaker talk?


TONE :

The tone of a poem established the mood of piece, the changing emotions of the speaker, or the persona's attitude  towards the subject. The tone can be sad, angry, shocking, nostalgic or humorous.


THEME :

 Every poem have its own theme. We can define the theme through its voice, images and symbols. Example of theme is such as time, love, art and death.


SETTING :

The setting in the poem is not just consider about the place,but it also consider about the time and the atmosphere.


IMAGERY :

Every poem must have the imagery.  Imagery is created using descriptive words and phrases to evoke a "mental picture" of the scenes (not so much scenery, actual scenes) in a book.




FIGURES OF SPEECH :


Expression that suggest more than literal meaning, present implied or direct comparison that give readers the experience of an abstraction or an emotion. For instance, metaphor, simile, personification, synecdoche, metonymy and hyperbole.




STRUCTURES


There are a few structures in the poem that we can see. For example, stanzas,rhyme and sound, rhythm and free verse.


Stanza : The lines of poem that divided into group or units.



To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadows, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.  
 
# Life's  Brief Candle by William Shakespeare


Rhythm: The indispensable elements that  distinguishes poetry. Four basic categories: Traditional meters, strong stress rhythms, syllabic counts and free verse.









WHAT IS DRAMA?

 

  
Drama is a unique tool to explore and express human feeling. 

Elements of drama :  *  Character
                               *  Action
                               *  Plot
                               *  Setting
                               *  Symbolism
                               *  Irony
                               *  Theme