Thursday, 5/14 - Let us essay to write our essay

MAaN is a giddy thing

• P&P

• Film - Much Ado

• Tomorrow: 

1. Short MAaN quiz
2. Final exam essay (prompts below)

Hey there y'all! I'll post the prompts for your Final Exam Essay by class time tomorrow. Today I want you to kick back, relax, kick a friend in the head, relax, and enjoy some of the finer moments of Much Ado about Nothing . . . for MAaN is a giddy thing, and this is my conclusion.

Here are your prompts for your essay dealing with The Taming of the Nothing and Much Ado about the Shrew. Remember that Shrew was first performed in 1593-94 and Much Ado in 1598-99, so any development you notice should begin with his earlier work.

Remember that you should plan for a five or an extraordinarily well-developed four paragraph essay. Please put together a working thesis statement in advance, along with your topic sentences and an array of supporting details. 

You will have the entire class time on Monday to put this bad-boy together ; )

God bless you as you prepare. You have been a wonderful class! Go hard now and we'll enjoy some relaxation during your exam time.    

Final Essay Prompts

1. What is Shakespeare doing with his display of Mimetic Desire (desire that is learned, mimicked)? See Leithart pages 255-258. Is he doing drastically different things in these two dramas, or is he developing and furthering a study of mimesis as he moves from Shrew to Ado? (This is sort of the looking-glass-self prompt.)
2. Catheruccio vs Beatrick (or Petratherine vs Benetrice): which couple's love is more profound and why?
3. Examine Shakespeare's use of "drama" within these dramas. How many "plays" or "fictions" are there in each? What is Shakespeare saying about the nature of his creative art and its interplay with life that we too often believe to be un-storied?
4. Shrew or Ado?: which work is a deeper biblical comedy (not to be confused with "funny") and why? See Leithart's section "The Bible as a Master Story" (pages 14-19) and "Introduction: Comedy" (pages 203-04).

 

Much Ado - Journals

Much Ado - J1 (Lesson One: Intro and Acts 1.1-2.1)

1. Explain the structure of the play.
2. Explain the title of the play.
3. Why is Don John angry with Claudio?
4. How are love and war different? Similar?
5. What is the "romantic" view of love? The "commercial"? How are are they two sides of the same coin?
6. What is Beatrice's view of love and men?
7. Why does Benedick resist love and marriage? (explain using the term "cuckoldry")
8. What is the history of Beatrice and Benedick's relationship?
9. What is "mimetic desire"? How does this theory account for Claudio's "love" for Hero? How does it reflect Benedick's fear of love?




Much Ado - J2 (Lesson Two: Acts 2.2-3.3)

1. Explain the significance of the order of the five scenes.
2. How are Don John and Don Pedro similar and different?
3. How is Don John's description of his deception significant on a biblical level?
4. How does Shakespeare's Much Ado venture beyond, yea, provide a nuanced perspective of, the stale theme, "appearances can be deceiving"?
5. How does Shakespeare's resolution to the problems of appearance and reality save his audience from slipping into skepticism?
6. Why does Benedick think it unmanly to be in love?
7. Why is Benedick's description of falling in love vital to an understanding of true love? How does this understanding of love contrast with Claudio's understanding and experience? How does Benedick display his own understanding?
8. What is important about what Benedick and Beatrice's friends say about them that induces them to love one another?
9. How does the character of Dogberry fit the themes of Much Ado?



Much Ado - J3 (Lesson Three: Act 4)

1. How are the fulfillment of the two deceptions directly linked, and why is this significant?
2. What does a wedding signify, and how is Claudio and Hero's wedding "a hellish, demonic parody" of an ideal wedding?
3. Why does Claudio direct such a public outrage toward Hero (in other words, what does this tell us about the nature of his "love")?
4. How is the imagery of nakedness, covering, and shame used in the wedding scene?
5. How is Friar Francis's proposal a fitting solution for the play, and how is it reflective of how several early church fathers understood the gospel?
6. Why is it significant that Beatrice and Benedick profess love for each other immediately after the first wedding?
7. Why does Beatrice want Benedick to kill Claudio?
8. What is her conception of most of the men of Messina?