A.P. Literature and Shakespeareanness: October 31, 2014

Focus: What does Act 5 of King Henry IV suggest about honor?

1. Warming up with a close reading of Vernon's description of Prince Hal; comparing it to Prince Hal's Act 1 soliloquy

[2. Reading Falstaff's speech about honor and viewing the Orson Welles performance of it and his thoughts on Falstaff as a nostalgic representation of an earlier, more innocent England.]

3. Preparing for Act 5 and mental jousting by considering the following questions:

• Henry IV is an honorable king.
• Honor pertains only to the dead, not to the living.

• Henry IV is essentially an anti-war play.

Quickly read through the scene summaries for Act 5, and for each one, jot down how the scene supports or challenges one or more of the statements above.

As you view The Hollow Crown's version of Act 5, consider what symbolic/directorial choices the film makes in responding to the statements above. Jot these down in your composition notebook.

After viewing, you will be assigned "agree" and "disagreer" roles, and you will be verbally jousting each other regarding the three statements above.

(Note to self: Act 5 is 24 minutes long and begins at 1:36:05

A heads-up: We will have a Tuesday writing, but it will not be Question 3; instead, it will be a poetry prompt that (as you could probably guess), focuses on a Shakespearean speech.

HW:

1. The majority of your draft should be completed by Monday; feel to share part or all of it with me for feedback (or, even better, come in for a conference).

2. By Friday of next week, please compose your big question blog entry for Henry IV, Part 1.

3. If you have your own copy of Invisible Man, please bring it to CMAS; your Invisible Man reading assignments start Monday night. Click HERE for the Invisible Man reading schedule.