Writing

For this week’s writing post, you will start to think about how the words on the page in “King Lear” might transform into a performance on stage. Please follow the directions on the pdf handout titled “ENGL 3000-Lesson Plan_Character_Scene Analysis.” You’ll post the writing post on the Discussion board.

LENGTH REQUIREMENT: To receive full credit, your work must be at least 150 words in length.

ENGL 3000: Shakespeare for Non-Majors Shakespeare’s plays were written to be performed, and thus the visual construction of a character and the set can either bring Shakespeare’s word to life or fail tragically. This assignment will require you to create a portrayal of how you think a specific character or set from a scene in King Lear is best represented. Then, you will use the LUNA digital image archive of the Folger Shakespeare Library to research how your chosen character or scene was represented historically. And finally, you will do a Google image search to further explore how your chosen character or scene is represented in more recent performances. This assignment will allow you to explore the importance of the visual component of performing Shakespeare and also will familiarize you with the LUNA database and will allow you to explore the rich visual elements of Shakespeare’s plays and the history of their production. LUNA is an important resource when researching early modern culture, but it is also just as important when exploring such things as the history of costume and set design. To complete this assignment, first watch “Character-Sketch Assignment” tutorial video. Next choose one character or specific set of one of the scenes in King Lear and complete the three components introduced above: 1. Use whatever medium you would like to create a visual representation of your chosen character or set. This can be done in SKETCH UP, GOOGLE DRAWING, Illustrator, watercolor, pen and ink, collage, or whatever you so choose. Just make sure that you can take a screenshot or photograph of your creation to upload to Dropbox. Along with your visual creation, answer the following three questions: a. What character or scene you have chosen? b. Why did you choose this specific character or scene? c. What elements of the character or scene you have focused on in your visual representation? 2. Search your same character or scene on the LUNA digital image archive http://luna.folger.edu/luna/servlet/FOLGERCM1~6~6 and download a low-res copy of your chosen image. Look for an image that you think fits the character or scene well or otherwise does not work well. Once you have found an image, please complete the following three questions: a. How does this image differ from or relate to what you created? b. How does the representation of character or scene reflect the culture of the era during which they were produced? c. Do you think this a successful representation of the character or scene? 3. Finally, search the same character or scene in Google images and find an image of your chosen character or seen from a production of King Lear that was performed in the last five years. Follow the same directions as for part 2. Look for an image that is either a great fit or else a terrible fit for the character or scene. Then, answer the following three questions: a. How does this image differ from or relate to what you created? b. How does the representation of character or scene reflect the culture of the era during which they were produced? c. Do you think this a successful representation of the character or scene? Purpose of the Assignment: This assignment will familiarize you with the LUNA digital image archive while asking you to critically engage with the text as performance. You will be asked to analyze the ways in which characters and sets can change from text to stage as you create your own image of how you see a character or set best represented. You will then compare various set designs and character castings/costumes in order to judge what you believe to be a successful set or character design with supporting details.