en 102 - class eight
DESCRIPTION
Class Eight: Fiction Unit; this is the end of our unit, and discusses Fiction as both literature and drama.TRANSCRIPT
CLASS EIGHTChapter 3, 6 Review“Lion in Winter” Clip
Genre Discussion: “Dead Man”Discussion Board
EN 102 – FICTION UNIT
Chapter 3-- Review
EN 102 – FICTION UNIT
Chapter 3: Between Cultures
We have been reading non-fiction, fiction and
poetry in our units; Chapter 3 also has
drama: “Los Vendidos” a short
play By Luis Valdez
(p 144)
Watch the following clip from “Lion in Winter”
Chapter 3-- Review
EN 102 – FICTION UNIT
Drama is similar to fiction, except that it usually is performed on a stage. Drama has roots extending back as many years as poetry, and is interconnected with poetry-- drama uses dialogue, monologue and action to get it’s point across, and the best written ones are described as ‘poetry’.
Chapter 3-- Review
EN 102 – FICTION UNIT
“Lion In Winter” is what is known as a ‘period piece’. Can we describe the elements of this style of film?
1. Discuss the language: how is it different from other ‘period pieces’?
2. The story is based, somewhat loosely, in history: does this make it more effective? Why or why not?
3. Based on our clip, is this film compelling (something you might watch on your own?)
Chapter 3-- Review
EN 102 – FICTION UNIT
In his short book On Acting, playwright Arthur Miller made the following observation:
“We spend more time in our day listening to actors than we do to so called ‘real people’. We are
watching the news, movies, TV programs, politics, etc. All of which employ acting techniques.”
Do you agree with his assessment?
Chapter 5-- Review
In order to prepare for active viewing of our movie, on p. 286-287 is a list of terms:
Point of View Concluding Images
Antag. Conflict
Title
Setting
Protag
P. Change
Opening
“Dead Man” is an independent movie: using character-driven
narrative, we see William Blake, accountant from Ohio, whose journey west to the town of
Machine, seals his fate.
“Dead Man” & Genres
EN 102 – FICTION UNIT
It’s been said that there are no new plots: only variations on a theme.
This is how character-driven fiction has carved new space in literature, and film.“Dead Man” is a film that parallels it’s source material
(literature), but tells a story within the confines of the Western genre, using a surrealist text by Henri Michaux, whose quote begins the movie: “It is preferable not to travel with a dead
man”.
“Dead Man”
EN 102 – FICTION UNIT
The “Western” genre has some conventions: what are they?
Hero: Sheriff /
‘Shootist’ + friends
Villain: Thief or
Killer(s) / corrupt official
Showdown: Main st. at Noon
‘Shootist’ wins,
moves on…
leaves friends
Setting: West (US)
Desert, wild forest
“Dead Man”
EN 102 – FICTION UNIT
Michaux’s Plume, and his travel book Ecuador, closely parallel “Dead Man”: Plume: “tractable”, naïve, totally impervious with an absurd knack for walking into compromising situations, (Suarez 106).
Ecuador: …Set in an uncertain geography, where trajectories are hard to ascertain. …The narrator complains of having been born w/ a small hole in his chest, where there is “hatred, terror, and helplessness”, (Suarez 109).
“One begins to die when one no longer makes sense as a social being,” (Suarez 111).
Blake is … “both already dead…and still dying… dead to his former self, which has been overwritten by other identities, and failing in his search for a role that may keep him alive by making him somebody again,” (Suarez 113).
Discussion Board: Status
EN 102 – FICTION UNIT
Stats: Saturday Class (7995) : 82 posts total / 16 people posted (17 total) for Poetry;
Fiction Stats: 12 posts / 3 people posted (4 total) for videos, and fiction favorites.
Thursday Class (7766): 109 posts total / 18 people posted (19 total) for Poetry;
Fiction Stats: 2 posts / 0 people posted (1 total) for videos, and fiction favorites. Due by Class 9
In Conclusion:
EN 102 – FICTION UNIT
See you in Class Nine (Non Fiction Unit)…
EN 102 – FICTION UNIT