NiCKEL Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 I've been focusing on poems for so long I realized I'm actually really bad at doing oral commentaries for plays.. can I get a little help? (IOC coming soon too). With poems I do fairly well; I think the briefness really helps with making sure I didn't miss any points. But with plays (e.g. King Lear), I'm kind of confused as to what to talk about... Almost every time we discuss in class its about stage related things (e.g. the fact that the words and the actions of the actor might conflict, thus causing blah blah blah) but i can never find any literary devices other than diction...I feel like always talking about stage effects seems too informal, shouldn't this be an analysis of literature (not an acting class)?What types of things can we talk about when doing an oral commentary on a play? Is it the same ideas as a poem, with alliteration, onomatopeias, etc? Right now whenever I'm discussing a play I can only think of:-basic literary devices (alliteration, metaphor, simile, euphemism)-how they make the audience feel-what is happening on stage and how that makes the audience feel. tl;drI don't know what to talk about in oral commentaries about plays. For poems it's simple: what are devices and how do they affect reader Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eross Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 I've been focusing on poems for so long I realized I'm actually really bad at doing oral commentaries for plays.. can I get a little help? (IOC coming soon too). With poems I do fairly well; I think the briefness really helps with making sure I didn't miss any points. But with plays (e.g. King Lear), I'm kind of confused as to what to talk about... Almost every time we discuss in class its about stage related things (e.g. the fact that the words and the actions of the actor might conflict, thus causing blah blah blah) but i can never find any literary devices other than diction...I feel like always talking about stage effects seems too informal, shouldn't this be an analysis of literature (not an acting class)?What types of things can we talk about when doing an oral commentary on a play? Is it the same ideas as a poem, with alliteration, onomatopeias, etc? Right now whenever I'm discussing a play I can only think of:-basic literary devices (alliteration, metaphor, simile, euphemism)-how they make the audience feel-what is happening on stage and how that makes the audience feel. tl;drI don't know what to talk about in oral commentaries about plays. For poems it's simple: what are devices and how do they affect reader It largely depends on the play and the extract you're given, but here are some examples: *soliloquies/monologues: how does the playwright uses soliloquies? For example, in Hamlet, soliloquies are used to tell us what Hamlet's really thinking but what he can't say in front of other characters. Helps with the theme of deciet. *diction: what kind of language does the playwright use? Why/ to what purpose? For example, in Ariel Dorfman's Death and the Maiden the playwright uses very vulgar language to show violence. *stage directions: any music/tone specified by the author? Why? How is it important? (For example, in death and the maiden the use of music is specified throughout the play). What about setting descriptions? Is the setting important? (think: could the play have happened elsewhere, or is it specific to the place it's set in?). Descriptions of rooms? (For example, in Garcia Lorca's The house of Bernarda Alba the white color of the walls symbolizes the daughters' purity). *symbolism --> any symbols in the play? for example, in the play I mentioned above the playwright uses the moon as a symbol for Death. *motifs/themes: are there any recurrent themes in the play? In Hamlet, there's the theme of revenge. What about motifs? In Macbeth, for example, there's the motif of blood. *characterization: how does a character evolve throughout the play? how is this seen in his dialogue/actions? (good time to note on the stage directions for actors rather than on the ones for the director). *and by all means if you see metaphors, rhymes, etc. point them out and explain what they mean/ how they're important. I hope these helped; they are very general, as it depends on the play and I haven't read King Lear. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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