The document outlines the agenda for an ELIT 17 Class, including a discussion of recitations, Richard III, and the introduction to Essay #1 which covers MLA formatting. Students will analyze scenes from Richard III comparing the play to a film adaptation, and the class will discuss potential essay topics.

1. ELIT 17 Class 11

2. AGENDA
• Recitation
• Discussion: Final thoughts on
Richard III
• Introduction to Essay #1
o MLA formatting

3. Recitations

4. In
Groups
• Discuss
your
answers to
the
homework
questions

5. Richard III
• Compare a scene in the movie Richard III to the
corresponding scene in Shakespeare’s play. In some cases,
there will not be a direct correlation. In that case, you may
refer to themes as long as you use textual evidence. How
does the director both stay true to Shakespeare and make
the film more relevant? Which is more successful? Why?

6. Act 1 Scene 1:
Richard’s Monologue
[A]ll the plays that I have seen during class have Richard III always
alone right in the beginning of the play while everyone is
celebrating. However in the movie, he is seen mingling around in
the party and even says his speech in front of everyone until around
line 11, the scene changed to him entering the bathroom alone. Of
course the lines were exactly the same, only except in the movie, he
added and took out some lines from the speech. The way Richard III
starts to speak his speech is quite different. In the movie, he speaks
in a lighthearted tone until he slowly seems to be changing his tone a
little bit then it changes to him being bitter as he enters the
bathroom, skipping the entire party scene. While in the play, he
speaks in a completely bitter tone about how everyone is enjoying
themselves in the party while he just stood alone, speaking to
himself.

7. Act 1, Scene 2
Though I enjoyed the reading of Richard III, I found Lady Anne’s
character to be extremely troubling because of her lack of
dimensionality. However, the dynamic between the two was
more effectively conveyed through the subtleties of the screen
than our book. For example, in this greatly abridged version of
the wooing scene, the dialogue between the two comes to life
especially well. For example, the movie does a much better job at
establishing Richard’s false guise of innocence. When the old
man whimpers, “Why dost thou spit at me?” following Anne’s
rebuke, the delivery reminds the audience of Richard’s incredible
mask of guiltlessness. In fact, the movie then has Anne soften
towards Richard, who no longer seems capable of the murder of
the corpse she is standing in front of.

8. Act 1 Scene 4
• A scene that was different and noticeably shortened in the 1995 film
adaptation of Richard III was the assassination of Clarence. In
Shakespeare’s play, Murderer 2 expresses second thoughts over the
killing of Clarence when realizing the possibility of “becoming
damned for killing him,” claiming that “certain dregs of conscience”
are within him (1.4.115,125-126). Clarence then attempts to talk the
murderers out of the assassination — as Richard warned earlier — by
making an appeal to Judgment, reasoning that they will “war with
God by murd’ring” him (1.4.263). While the film stays true to
Shakespeare by briefly discussing Murderer 2’s “conscience” in the
beginning of the scene, it omits his guilt over Clarence’s death in the
scene’s end. In contrast to the film, Murderer 2 expresses regret
saying, “How fain, like Pilate, would I wash my hands / Of this most
grievous murder” (1.4.284-286). Murderer 1 also points out how
“slack” he had been in the job (1.4.288), whereas the film makes it
seem that they are equally involved in Clarence’s death.

9. Act 4 Scene 4
The scene I will compare from the original play to the movie is
Richard’s wooing by proxy scene. In this scene Richard attempts to
convince Elizabeth I to let him marry her daughter.
One change that weakens the movie version is a small one: Richard
asks Elizabeth to instruct him in wooing her daughter. In the play,
Elizabeth says, “Send to her, by the man that slew her brothers, / A pair
of bleeding hearts; thereon engrave / ‘Edward and York’” (4.4.284-286).
However, in the movie, the line about engraving Edward and York’s
names is cut. Instead the line is “Send to her, by the man who slew her
brothers, a pair of bleeding hearts, then will she weep”. Unfortunately,
this makes the scene weaker because instead of picturing Richard
sending the hearts of her brothers to her, the hearts are instead any
hearts at all. The removal of the “engrave” line makes it less clear what
Elizabeth is trying to say.

10. Act 5 Scene 3
Ian McKellen’s performance, [in spite of the weakened dramatic impact
the scene], powerfully evokes Richard’s feelings in this scene in a way I
feel is very accurate to the text of the [play]. I feel the shared emotional
core of this scene, in both the [play] and the movie, is a sense of
profound insecurity and a lack of ego identity on the part of Richard.
Not only does Richard literally have to reassure himself that he is
himself, and constantly contradicts the things he says, he fails to find
any reason why he did the things he did. Without an ego identity, it is
reasonable to see Richard as a lost child, driven only by his id to
constantly grow in power at any cost, yet for no real reason. McKellen’s
performance perfectly mirrors this feeling of helplessness, and he curls
around his servant, crying out of fear that he may be betrayed or fail,
yet is unable to get any connection with anyone around him because he
constantly does inhuman, monstrous things.

11. Act 5, Scene 4, Line 13
Richard’s death, and the famous lines, “A horse, a
horse, my kingdom for a horse!” (5:4:13) can’t carry
the same weight in the film because, of course, they
are driving a car! It was almost humorous watching
Ian McKellen, who admittedly said the lines
fantastically, call desperately for a horse while
chased down by a jeep with a machine gun attached
to the back.

12. The Ending: Richard’s Death
While I think the ending of the movie did capture the fact […] that Richard’s self-doubts
and confusion at the end are not any kind of epiphany, but instead are a final break into
utter insanity, sadly it went so far off the rails as to kind of negate any other insight into
the character that they had established during the entire rest of the film.
It’s really a bummer that the movie falls apart this way, up until now, they’ve managed
to stay fairly true to the essence of the play. But there’s a real missed opportunity in not
delving into the important contrasts between the way Richmond comes in, essentially as
a heaven-sent savior, speaking to his men in positive and glowing terms, and Richard’s
dark ranting about the enemy coming to rape all the women. The movie seems to lose
sight of what the ending means, and it’s exemplified by the decision to ignore the ghost
scene. In the play, this is important both because it shows that Richard has now lapsed
into total loss of control of his mind, but also because, in what the ghosts say to and
about Richmond, it shows the glory of the coming change of political tide, as the ghosts
lend a godly stamp of approval to this challenger. That would be the final required blow
to Richard, in the eyes of Shakespeare’s audience. Now, all they had to do was wait,
satisfied, for the fates to crush him utterly. But the movie gives us none of that. Without
the ghosts, we’re not shown enough of what is going on inside Richard’s head. We can
see he’s slipping, but that whole end is so rushed and truncated, it doesn’t really make
any sense.

13. • In the end is Richard totally evil or does his portrayal
suggest any admirable traits? Use textual evidence to
support your point of view.
I believe when someone
shows humanistic
emotions and
vulnerability, they
cannot be totally evil.

14. Final Comments?
Let me
ask you!

15. Topics for Essay #1
 There are many essay topics to choose from.
On the webpage, click on “Essay Prompts” and then
“Essay #1”
 You will see another list of choices specific to our texts.
Click on any of them to explore topics
 You may write an essay on any of these topics.
 You may write an essay on a topic of your choice.
 You may use fodder from one of your posts.
 The essay is due Friday, Week 7 at noon.

16. Prompt Introduction
• In this first half of our quarter, we have read and
discussed multiple texts and opinions on Shakespeare,
and for this reason, I offer you many choices for your first
essay. In a thesis driven essay of three to six pages,
respond to one of the prompts I have offered or one of
your own. You need only the primary text for this essay,
but you may incorporate other plays or critical theory as
additional support. Remember, you can also draw on
your own knowledge to discuss, explain, and analyze
your topic.

17. The Comedy of Errors
• William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors is
full of comic violence, though no one is ever
seriously hurt. Why does Shakespeare include
these scenes? Why is this violence funny?
Evaluate the response of the audience to acts of
comic violence on stage, and support your
assessment with specific incidents from the play.

18. Twelfth Night
What does the play disclose about gender roles,
desires, and identities? Does Orsino love Olivia or
Cesario? Does Olivia love Cesario or Viola? Compare
Viola's behavior with Orsino (e.g. 2.4) to her exchanges
with Olivia (e.g., 1.5, 2.2, 3.1.76ff). Is Antonio
"masculine" or "feminine?" (Antonio and Sebastian, 2.1,
3.3, 5.1.66ff, 201ff.; Sebastian and Viola, 3.4.315ff) Are
such polarities, terms adequate to define what is
represented or suggested? See Valerie Traub (130ff)
who explores the homoerotic and homosocial (even
homophobic?) configurations and effects of these
relationships. Traub's comments follow on the next
slide:

19. Traub on Twelfth Night
The homoerotic energies of Viola, Olivia, and Orsino are
displaced onto Antonio, whose relation to Sebastian is finally
sacrificed for the maintenance of institutionalized
heterosexuality and generational continuity. In other words,
Twelfth Night closes down the possibility of homoerotic play
initiated by the material presence of the transvestized boy actors.
The fear expressed, however, is not of homoeroticism per se;
homoerotic pleasure is explored and sustained until it collapses
into fear of erotic exclusivity and its corollary: non-reproductive
sexuality. The result is a more rigid dedication to the ideology of
binarism, wherein gender and status inequalities are all the more
forcefully reinscribed" (Desire and Anxiety: Circulations of
Sexuality in Shakespearean drama p.123).

20. Richard III
• Richard displays his fullest command of deceit
and guile in the scene where he woos Lady
Anne, drawing her away from duty, loyalty, and
virtue while binding her to him. Analyze his
arguments and his ability to mask evil under the
guise of piety. Compare this “seduction” scene
to the later scene where the citizens of London
are drawn in by similar stratagems. Analyze
Richard’s strategies.

21. HOW TO WRITE A
RESPONSE TO
LITERATURE
Adapted from a handout from The
Writing Center, University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill and Axelrod and
Cooper’s The St. Martins Guide to Writing.

22. Basic Features of a
Response to Literature
1. An Appropriately Presented
Subject.
2. An Interesting and Clearly
Stated Interpretation.
3. A Plausible Chain of Reasons
with Convincing Support.

23. Basic Features
1. An Appropriately Presented Subject.
a. A directed Summary: Provides information about the story that
the reader needs to understand your argument
2. An Interesting and Clearly Stated Interpretation.
a. Interesting
b. Arguable
c. Clear
d. Appropriately qualified
3. A Plausible Chain of Reasons with Convincing Support.
a. Textual evidence: quote, summarize, and paraphrase from the
story.
b. Explain the meaning of the passage and its relevance to the
thesis.
c. Combine evidence and explanation to support and develop
your thesis

24. A good paper begins with the writer
having a solid understanding of the
work. Being able to have the whole
text in your head when you begin
thinking through ideas will actually
allow you to write the paper more
quickly in the long run.
 Spend some time just thinking about
the story. Flip back through the book
and consider what interests you about
this book—what seemed strange,
new, or important?
Be Familiar with the Text

25. Explore Potential Topics
 Even though you have a list of topics from which
to choose, you must develop your own
interpretation.
 Consider how you might approach several topics.
What will your answer to each question show about the
text?
So what? Why will anyone care?
Try this phrase for each prompt to see if you have an
idea: “This play shows ______________________. This
is important because ______________________.”

26.  Jot down all the events or
elements of the story that
have some bearing on the
two or three topics that seem
most promising.
 Don’t launch into a topic
without considering all the
options first because you may
end up with a topic that
seemed promising initially but
that only leads to a dead end.
Narrow down your list of
possible topics by identifying
how much evidence or how
many details you could use
to investigate each potential
issue.
Keep in mind that papers rely
on ample evidence and that
having a lot of details to
choose from can make your
paper easier to write.
Select a Topic with Plenty of Evidence

27. Writing Tips
• Write about literature in present tense
• Avoid using “thing,” “something,” “everything,” and
“anything.”
• Avoid writing in second person.
• Avoid using contractions.
• Cut Wordy Sentences
• Avoid run-on sentences and fragments.
• Check for misused words
• Put commas and periods inside of quotation marks

28. Miscellaneous Questions
• Does the paper follow MLA guidelines?
o For help, click on “MLA Guidelines” and view the “Basic MLA format” video.
• Is the page length within assigned limits?
• Is the font type and size within the assigned guidelines?
• Does the Header follow the assignment guidelines?
• Is the professor's name spelled correctly? Kim Palmore
• Is your name spelled correctly?
• Does the paper have a title? Is it a good title? Is the title in the
appropriate location?
• Have you italicized book and movie titles and put stories,
articles, and poems in quotation marks?

29. MLA Formatting Style:
Setting up your paper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xAc4yZ8VSA

31. Creating a Works Cited list using the eighth edition
From Purdue Online Writing Lab:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
MLA has turned to a style of documentation that is based on a general
method that may be applied to every possible source, to many different
types of writing. But since texts have become increasingly mobile, and
the same document may be found in several different sources, following
a set of fixed rules is no longer sufficient.
The current system is based on a few principles, rather than an extensive
list of specific rules. While the handbook still gives examples of how to
cite sources, it is organized according to the process of documentation,
rather than by the sources themselves. This process teaches writers a
flexible method that is universally applicable. Once you are familiar
with the method, you can use it to document any type of source, for any
type of paper, in any field.

32. Here is an overview of the process:
When deciding how to cite your source, start by consulting the list of core elements.
These are the general pieces of information that MLA suggests including in each Works
Cited entry. In your citation, the elements should be isted in the following order:
Author.
Title of source.
Title of container,
Other contributors,
Version,
Number,
Publisher,
Publication date,
Location.
Each element should be followed by the punctuation mark shown here. Earlier editions
of the handbook included the place of publication, and required punctuation such as
journal editions in parentheses, and colons after issue numbers. In the current version,
punctuation is simpler (just commas and periods separate the elements), and
information about the source is kept to the basics.

33. Optional Elements: include any information that helps readers easily
identify the source, without including unnecessary information that
may be distracting.
Date of original publication: for clarity
Erdrich, Louise. Love Medicine. 1984. Perennial-Harper, 1993.
City of publication: necessary when a work is published before 1900
Thoreau, Henry David. Excursions. Boston, 1863.
Date of access and URLs: When you cite an online source.
Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web." A List Apart: For People
Who Make Websites, 16 Aug. 2002, alistapart.com/article/writeliving. Accessed
4 May 2009.
DOIs: A digital object identifier, is a series of digits and letters that leads to the
location of an online source.
Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. "Toxicity of Nitrite to Three Species of
Freshwater Invertebrates." Environmental Toxicology, vol. 21, no. 1, 3 Feb. 2006,
pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library, doi: 10.1002/tox.20155.

34. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. 1603. Eds.
Barbara Mowat and Paul Wersteine. Simon and Shuster, 2012.
Author
1
Title
of
source
2
Optional:
Original
publication
date
Publishers
7
Other
Contributors
4
Publication
date
8

35. 1” Margins all around
Alphabetical Order Title Centered
Five
spaces
Works Cited
Last Name 1
Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in
Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature, vol.
15, no. 1, 1996, pp. 41-50.
The Bible. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998.
Henley, Patricia. The Hummingbird House. MacMurray, 1999.
Zinkievich, Craig. Interview by Gareth Von Kallenbach. Skewed & Reviewed, 27
Apr. 2009, www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-
online/news/detail/1056940-skewed-%2526-reviewed-interviews-craig.
Accessed 15 Mar. 2009.
Website
Book
Periodical
Specific version

36. Questions

37. Choose your essay topic: Twelfth Night, A Comedy of Errors, or Richard III
Post #11: Post your prompt and a one paragraph response to it.
Read Othello Acts 1, 2, and 3
Post #12: Choose one
1. How does Shakespeare present the world of Venice in the first act, and how
does he construct the interactions of his central characters (Iago, Othello, and
Desdemona) with that Venetian world and with each other. How are these
interactions complicated by the fact that Othello is a Moor (and what exactly
does that mean?) and that Desdemona is a young woman?
2. What sort of person is Iago, as he appears in act 1? Are you satisfied by the
reasons he gives for hating Othello? What is Iago's relationship with Roderigo?
Is he a trickster character? Why or why not?
3. What more do we learn about the nature of Iago in act 2? What is the effect of
having him share his thoughts and plans with us through his soliloquies? Pay
attention to the language used in Iago's soliloquies. What sorts of descriptive
language does he use? How does it contribute to the picture of Iago that
Shakespeare is drawing?
4. At the beginning of 3.3 Othello is completely in love with Desdemona. By the
end of that scene, 480 lines later, Othello is ready to murder her for having an
affair with Cassio. How have we gone from the first position to the second
position so quickly? How does Iago plant the idea of Desdemona's infidelity in
Othello's mind, and how does he make it grow?
5. What sort of person is Emilia, and what seems to be the nature of her
relationship with her husband Iago? How does Desdemona's handkerchief
come into play within that relationship between Emilia and Iago?