Much Ado comparison paper

1. Much Ado comparison paper • “Often Branagh makes cleverly seamless internal cuts in long speeches, especially those involving highly figured and elaborate wordplay for Benedick and Beatrice. . . . As you compare script, screenplay, and film, you might ask yourself whether Branagh has sacrificed too much of the language to achieve his goal of telling the story “with the utmost clarity and simplicity.” (Bevington, ed., 269-270)

2. One-page paper assignment • Comment on the long opening of Branagh movie. • cf. pp. 48-49 on film v. drama • Consider how cutting lines changes the representation of Benedict compared to Beatrice. • Compare screenplay on pp. 270 to 276 to full text of the play.

3. General introduction/Thesis/Argument • Hollywood likes/dislikes long/short visual introductions. • Branagh is/is not an exception • His cuts make Beatrice/Benedick less/more witty/boring/attractive/unattractive than the play/printed script • Because Beatrice primps/reads poetry/smiles a lot • Because Benedick rides a horse/is less mocking/scared of the yoke of marriage

4. Thesis Statements • Limited • Meaningful • Argumentative • Exact

5. Limited thesis (or topic sentence) • President Bush is the best president. • President Bush requires loyalty of his subordinates. • Shakespeare is the world’s greatest playwright. • Shakespeare created memorable characters.

6. Argumentative • In my opinion, Beatrice is hot. • Although she talks a lot and isn’t obviously flirtatious, Beatrice rocks.

7. Meaningful • Travel by plane saves time. • Yawn • Shakespeare was a good writer. • Does anyone disagree?

8. Exact • Shakespeare is not boring. • What does boring mean? Can you write a whole paper about not being boring? It’s hard to define. • Macbeth is a fascinating character.

9. Exact • Macbeth’s early recognition of guilt increases his conflict. • Limited subject: recognition of guilt • Limited predicate: increases his guilt. • First you explain how he recognizes his guilt (introduction to the subject); then you state your thesis; then you show how his guilt increases by giving some examples (defense of what you say about the subject).

10. Unity and Coherence • Write in paragraphs. • Check you paragraphs for • Topic sentence • Unity • Coherence

11. Topic Sentence • A topic sentence has a subject and a predicate • The predicate, or verb part of the sentence, has a pointer. Everything in the paragraph should point in the same direction. • Use the topic sentence to test for unity.

12. Unity:Does the sentence belong? • 1) No source has been found for the “merry war”between Benedick and Beatrice, although precedents are to be found in Shakespeare’s earlier plays, especially in the contest of wits between Petruchio and Kate. 2) Shakespeare loved to write. 3) He also hated his wife. 4) Similarly, no source has been identified for Dogberry. 5) But the Hero-Claudio plot has a long history.

13. Coherence: Where does the sentence belong? • Rearrange these sentences. Use logical ordering principles, particularly chronology: • From the start Beatrice demonstrated concern for Benedick, albeit under the guise of joking. She is curious whether he has shown himself valiant in battle and wishes to know who his current friends are. She fears revealing her love. Beatrice scoffs at marriage. Both Beatrice and Benedick adopt postures that protect them from revealing their true feelings. (p. 223)

14. Unity • Egypt was civilized long before there was any written history of the country. Egypt has an area of 386,000 square miles. Ancient Egptians knew about embalming. The Nile River has been dammed. The Egyptians carried on commerce. There is fertile farmland beside the river. Egyptians have always been religious. They built great pyramids. • (from Kroiter, The Five-Hundred Word Theme)

15. Coherence: • A year spent teaching in the shacks adjacent to the cityi schools provides a unique education to any teacher. The classroom temperature gets awfully cold sometimes. You cannot imagine how hard it is to teach when it is forty-six degrees in side the building. Field mice race over the student lockers. As summer approaches, the teacher would gladly trade her unique experience for anyone’s traditional classroom. The water fountain is so far away that it occupies a good part of the class time for teacher and students to get a drink.

16. Coherence: maintain “point of view” when possible • A year spent teaching in the shacks provides a unique education to any teacher. She learns to adjust to a cold classroom. She learns to cope with field mice. As summer approaches, she would gladly trade her experience for a traditional classroom. She learns to control her thirst, since the water fountain is so far away.

17. Coherence: use chronological order where possible. • A year spent teaching in the shacks provides a unique education to any teacher. In the fall she learns to cope with field mice. In winter, she learns to adjust to a cold classroom. In the spring, she learns to control her thirst, since the water fountain is so far away. As summer approaches, she would gladly trade her experience for a traditional classroom.

18. Subordination • Put the main idea in the main clause of the sentence • A clause is a group of words with a subject and verb. • The topic sentence of the paragraph determines the main idea.

19. Subordination • The play has wordplay, double meanings, and malapropisms. The messenger announces that Claudio has done feats of a lion. Beatrice’s first line is “Senor Mountanto.” Beatrice has a sharp tongue. Wordplay can be elaborate. Wordplay can be metaphoric. Benedick uses elaborate wordplay. Dogberry uses malapropisms. Frank Kermode is a critic.

20. Pointer: characters use playful language The language of comedyis filled with wordplay, double meanings, and malapropisms as several charactersspeak a kind of playful bandinage;Beatrice and Benedickare the most skillful players in the contest.From the messenger’s first announcement that Claudio has done”in the figure of a lamb the feats of a lion,”and Beatrice’s first line borrowing a sexually charged fencing metaphor to call Benedick “Senor Mountanto,” othersjoin in the verbal gamesmanship. Severalare actually defined by their use of language: Beatrice with her “sharp tongue,” Benedick with his ever-more elaborate metaphoric wordplay, and Dogberry with his malapropisms. Underline = subject of sentence; bold = verb or predicate.