Please finish the play for Friday, using the link previously provided.
A study guide for your drama test is available here.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Reading Due Friday
Read Act I of A Raisin in the Sun. This is located in your anthology and can also be found online here.
Friday, February 14, 2014
Due Tuesday
This will be a long post, but I thought it would be easier than doing a link to a document.
Assignment: Write an open-ended essay on the following prompt. Your essay should be a complete essay, and take between 40-60 minutes to write.
You must select ONE of my introductions below to start your essay. Copy and paste it into your document, and then finish the essay in your own words. Feel free to correct any of my typos, because I had to rush to get these done. Because I am setting you up with the basic ideas, you should focus on plot references, analysis of the prompt, and connections to MOWAAW. You should NOT use your notes or textbook.
Prompt:
In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behavior of a minor character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main character. Choose a novel or play in which a minor character serves as a foil for the main character. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the relation between the minor character and the major character illuminates the meaning of the work.
Intro:
Henrik Ibsen’s Realist play A Doll’s House is a domestic drama focusing on the Helmer family, which consists of Torvald, Nora, and their three children. Beneath the façade of a seemingly perfect family life lies the secret that Nora has committed the crime of forgery to save her husband’s life. Much of the play hinges upon the audience’s knowledge of Nora’s misdeed as various characters become aware of her actions. One of these characters, Kristine, serves the role of a foil character in that her difference shines light upon many of the important aspects of Nora’s character growth that will allow Ibsen to criticize the limitations placed upon women in this time period. Through comparisons with Kristine, the audience appreciates Nora’s rationale for committing the crime, capacity for financial independence, and need for an authentic family dynamic.
Henrik Ibsen’s Realist play A Doll’s House is a domestic drama focusing on the Helmer family, which consists of Torvald, Nora, and their three children. Beneath the façade of a seemingly perfect family life lies the secret that Nora has committed the crime of forgery to save her husband’s life. Much of the play hinges upon the audience’s knowledge of Nora’s misdeed as various characters interact with Nora in her state of distress. One of these characters, Dr. Rank, serves the role of a foil character to Torvald in that his interactions with Nora reveal many of the failures of Torvald to see his wife as an independent human being. Although Rank never becomes aware of his crime, his appreciation of her past life, authentic interactions with her and willingness to help Nora, make the audience wish that Nora found as much fulfillment in her husband as she does in Dr. Rank. Through this irony, the foil character of Dr. Rank fuels Ibsen’s criticism of restrictive gender roles that result in the dehumanization of women and shallowness of men.
Foil character are often used by authors as a means of shedding light upon traits that they wish to emphasize in their primary characters. In Henrik Ibsen’s domestic drama A Doll’s House, Torvald and Nora Helmer are the main characters, and fuel much of Ibsen’s criticism of the expectations of gender in this time period. To help him in this purpose, minor characters, such as the antagonist Krogstad, provide important points of comparison and help to further the complexity of Ibsen’s message. Although he initially strikes the audience as the villain, Krogstad instead becomes a strong point of comparison to Nora herself. Through commonalities in the nature of their crimes, their treatment by Torvald and their reactions to those who love them, Ibsen scathingly criticizes a society that not only has broken concepts of gender roles, but suffers under the restrictions of propriety and social expectations.
Assignment: Write an open-ended essay on the following prompt. Your essay should be a complete essay, and take between 40-60 minutes to write.
You must select ONE of my introductions below to start your essay. Copy and paste it into your document, and then finish the essay in your own words. Feel free to correct any of my typos, because I had to rush to get these done. Because I am setting you up with the basic ideas, you should focus on plot references, analysis of the prompt, and connections to MOWAAW. You should NOT use your notes or textbook.
Prompt:
In a literary work, a minor character, often known as a foil, possesses traits that emphasize, by contrast or comparison, the distinctive characteristics and qualities of the main character. For example, the ideas or behavior of a minor character might be used to highlight the weaknesses or strengths of the main character. Choose a novel or play in which a minor character serves as a foil for the main character. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the relation between the minor character and the major character illuminates the meaning of the work.
Intro:
Henrik Ibsen’s Realist play A Doll’s House is a domestic drama focusing on the Helmer family, which consists of Torvald, Nora, and their three children. Beneath the façade of a seemingly perfect family life lies the secret that Nora has committed the crime of forgery to save her husband’s life. Much of the play hinges upon the audience’s knowledge of Nora’s misdeed as various characters become aware of her actions. One of these characters, Kristine, serves the role of a foil character in that her difference shines light upon many of the important aspects of Nora’s character growth that will allow Ibsen to criticize the limitations placed upon women in this time period. Through comparisons with Kristine, the audience appreciates Nora’s rationale for committing the crime, capacity for financial independence, and need for an authentic family dynamic.
Henrik Ibsen’s Realist play A Doll’s House is a domestic drama focusing on the Helmer family, which consists of Torvald, Nora, and their three children. Beneath the façade of a seemingly perfect family life lies the secret that Nora has committed the crime of forgery to save her husband’s life. Much of the play hinges upon the audience’s knowledge of Nora’s misdeed as various characters interact with Nora in her state of distress. One of these characters, Dr. Rank, serves the role of a foil character to Torvald in that his interactions with Nora reveal many of the failures of Torvald to see his wife as an independent human being. Although Rank never becomes aware of his crime, his appreciation of her past life, authentic interactions with her and willingness to help Nora, make the audience wish that Nora found as much fulfillment in her husband as she does in Dr. Rank. Through this irony, the foil character of Dr. Rank fuels Ibsen’s criticism of restrictive gender roles that result in the dehumanization of women and shallowness of men.
Foil character are often used by authors as a means of shedding light upon traits that they wish to emphasize in their primary characters. In Henrik Ibsen’s domestic drama A Doll’s House, Torvald and Nora Helmer are the main characters, and fuel much of Ibsen’s criticism of the expectations of gender in this time period. To help him in this purpose, minor characters, such as the antagonist Krogstad, provide important points of comparison and help to further the complexity of Ibsen’s message. Although he initially strikes the audience as the villain, Krogstad instead becomes a strong point of comparison to Nora herself. Through commonalities in the nature of their crimes, their treatment by Torvald and their reactions to those who love them, Ibsen scathingly criticizes a society that not only has broken concepts of gender roles, but suffers under the restrictions of propriety and social expectations.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Due Friday
Please finish reading Death of a Salesman for Friday. If you are finished reading Act I, there is no homework due Thursday. If you are not finished reading Act I, READ ACT I for Thursday.
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