Choices, Choices....

Have you sent me your choices for roles in our four scenes from Measure for Measure?

#1: Act 2, Scene 1
Escalus, Elbow, Pompey, Froth (smaller), Angelo (smaller)

#2: Act 2, Scene 2
Angelo, Isabella, Provost (small), Lucio (small),


#3: Act 2, Scene 4
Angelo, Isabella, Servant (small)

#4: Act 3, Scene 1
Claudio, Isabella, Duke (silent)

By my count, there are 15 roles-- 9 larger and 6 smaller ones. With 7 students that means everyone needs to take on two roles and someone will need to tuck in a third role-- maybe the silent Duke in the final scene. Plus we'll need two plucky volunteers to take on two of the "larger" roles, requiring a larger commitment.

I would like to see Tom and John take on Angelo in Scene #2 or #3 with Isabella, and Andy take on Claudio in Scene #4. That leaves the four ladies with three Isabella scenes to chose from-- plus we need to fill out Scene #1, where Syd has announced a preference for Escalus.

Please send me your thoughts and or preferences so we can move forward on our great adventure!

Yours Truly,
a

Measure for Measure Title Taken from the Bible:

"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgement you pronounce you will be judged and the measure you give will be the measure you get" (Matthew 7.1 and 7.2).

This quotation from Christ's Sermon on the Mount, stating generally that each individual will be judged as harshly as he has judged others, implies that mercy and human sympathy should temper justice.

"And he said to them, 'Take heed what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you'" (Mark 4.24)

cliffsnotes.com

Hold yer Horses!

Hold on, Everybody! Hold off on your upcoming home work assignments for Monday! I am rethinking how we should go about skinning this here Shakespeare cat. And I want your input on Monday night.

I am thinking about going forward with my original ( and currently scuttle-butted) plan of working on scenes from only one play rather than branching out and doing scenes from threel plays. After reading parts of Measure for Measure together on Thursday evening , I am reconsidering our battle plan. It might serve us better to focus our energies on one play rather then scatter it among three.

This means focusing on the three "great scenes" from M4M that we read Thursday, casting three (or more) Isabellas, two Antonios, one Claudio... and, well, probably doubling up some duties to see if we can't make one of the "comic" scenes funny.

As I say: Think on it! Answer me come Monday at the hour of five!

Your fearless (if fickle) leader,
AK Huk'n Stuff

And when are we painting your house, John asks?

Hello all.

Althea, John has been very sick - still is, but has moved to the sofa. He will not be coming to class tonight.

I'll be there. I need clarification and guidance on what is what with the different metonymy and syneddoche and such...never was a literary scholar. so hope you'll help us this evening.

See ya,
Gale

THE SONNETS, Part 2 (Cue "Mission Impossible" Theme Music)

Your assignment for next Monday, should you choose to accept it:
1) Put your sonnet in your own words, line by line.
2) Sum up the sonnet in a single sentence of your own words. What is it's essential message?
3) Look through your sonnet carefully and mark (circle, underline, whatever works for you) Shakespeare's use of the following figures of speech (a verbal expression in which words or sounds are arranged in a particular way to achieve a particular effect.) :

• Alliteration
  The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words. Some famous examples of alliteration are tongue twisters such as She sells seashells by the seashore and Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
  

• Antithesis
  A figure of speech in which words and phrases with opposite meanings are balanced against each other. An example of antithesis is "To err is human, to forgive, divine."This is actually a double antithesis, to err is set up against to forgive, and human set up against divine.

• Assonance
  The repetition or a pattern of similar sounds, especially vowel sounds, as in the tongue twister Moses supposes his toeses are roses.

• Consonance
  The repetition of similar consonant sounds, especially at the ends of words, as in lost and past or confess and dismiss.

• Metaphor
  A figure of speech in which two things are compared, usually by saying one thing is another, or by substituting a more descriptive word for the more common or usual word that would be expected. Some examples of metaphors: the world's a stage, he was a lion in battle, drowning in debt, and a sea of troubles.

• Metonymy
  A figure of speech in which one word is substituted for another with which it is closely associated. For example, in the expression The pen is mightier than the sword, the word pen is used for "the written word," and sword is used for "military power."

• Onomatopoeia
  A figure of speech in which words are used to imitate sounds. Examples of onomatopoeic words are buzz, hiss, zing, pop, splat, thump, and tick-tock. "The moan of doves in immemorial elms,/And murmuring of innumerable bees" from Tennyson's Come Down, O Maid. The repeated "m/n" sounds reinforce the idea of "murmuring" by imitating the hum of insects on a warm summer day.

• Personification
  A figure of speech in which nonhuman things or abstract ideas are given human attributes: the sky is crying, dead leaves danced in the wind, blind justice.

• Simile
  A figure of speech in which two things are compared using the word "like" or "as." An example of a simile using like occurs in Langston Hughes's poem Harlem: "What happens to a dream deferred?/ Does it dry up/ like a raisin in the sun?"

• Synecdoche
  A figure of speech in which a part is used to designate the whole or the whole is used to designate a part. For example, the phrase "all hands on deck" means "all men on deck," not just their hands.
  

4) Read the play Measure for Measure. Just do your best. Definitely read one of the summaries (all the way through, Leith!) Think about Who These Character Are so that you can bring a dish INSPIRED by one of them to our M4M Potluck, March 6, 6pm, Althea's house! Map/Directions will be provided at Monday's class

Good luck everyone. I know you can do it. No need to self-destruct. See you on Monday!

Althea

We Happy Few (Henry V, Act IV, sc 3)

As of Sunday morning, we are seven:

1. Jeanette Burkhardt
2. Leith Gaines
3. Gale Arnold
4. Sydney Bellamy
5. Andy Bell
6. Tom Butler
7. John Haugse

There are others who have expressed interest, but have not officially signed up nor signed off. (You know who you are...) This leaves 3 possible spaces open for grabs. If you know someone who might like to join us, please invite them to visit this blog and sign up!

For those few, those happy few who have already made the commitment, please prepare your homework and join me to see who shows up Monday evening at 5pm, Columbia Center for the Arts Theatre, 215 Cascade Street, Hood River. I will be there early, and plan to lock the doors at 5 o'clock. If you are arriving late you will need to call my cell: 541-490-3782.

Can't wait to see meet my new "band of brothers" (...and by that, of course, I mean sisters, as well-- the Bard knows not of PC language).

althea

HOMEWORK!

Yes, my dear ones, there is homework before the first class. Fear Not! It is easy!

1) Read the blog entry "Our First Class" below. Be on time, please. Bring comfy clothes and water, paper, pen.

2) Choose a sonnet that speaks to you. Don't make it hard, just pick one you like. (Tip: You can tell a lot by the first line. Feel free to skim.) There is a link to the full text of all the sonnets in the "links" section, and I have listed some well-known faves by number. (Shakespeare's sonnets don't have titles, they have numbers.) Print out the full text of the sonnet of your choice in a large, clear font so it is easy to read. Bring 2 copies with you to class.

3) Read one of the summaries of Measure for Measure listed in the "links" section, so you have any idea of the story. You are welcome to read the full text of the play (listed under "links" as well) but you don't gotta. Yet.

I am beginning to understand that blogging is difficult for some of you. We will work through this together. My hope is that we can all use this blog as a clearing house for information. That saves me the hassle of leaving the same voice-mail 10 times and/or typing out emails that might not make it through everyone's spam filter. And you can check the blog any time day or night to find out whatever you might need to know about class. Sure sounds good, let's see how it works!