Author: Mark Noonan (Page 2 of 3)

Hi Everyone,

You did a wonderful job with your posts on Oedipus Rex and Lysistrata (and some intrepid souls even posted on Spike Lee’s amazing film Chi-Raq). [I will be posting all grades in the gradebook link on course site.] Read through these posts (and my responses) again to get a fuller appreciation of the richness, genius, and wisdom of the playwrights Sophocles and Aristophanes (and Brooklyn filmmaker Spike Lee!!!).

Please watch my video lecture “Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Age,” which introduces our next author and work.   Once you watch my video, I ask that you read Shakespeare’s greatest (in my opinion) Romantic Comedy: “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (1596).  A mature play published after “Romeo and Juliet,” it’s a brilliant, fun, and zany exploration of true love, true hate, and the arbitrariness of human emotions. As Puck, the mischievous spirit, famously says: “What Fools These Mortals Be”!  Indeed, especially when it comes to love!

This week’s homework is as follows:

Read:  William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1596)

If you prefer, here is a modern text translation of the play. You can read the modern translation next to Shakespeare’s original text.

View: Film adaptation of the play (1968) by the Royal Shakespeare Company (on Amazon Prime).  I recommend watching the film with the SUBTITLES to fully enjoy Shakespeare’s magnificent language.

For a wonderful theater-esque experience, I also recommend the NYC “Shakespeare in the Park” production (1982):  (Midsummer Night’s Dream Part I,  MND Part II) .

It’s somewhat long but wonderful and gives a sense of what it’s like to watch a live play in New York’s Outdoor Delacourte Theatre.  This summer “Shakespeare in the Park” is producing Shakespeare’s “Merry Wives of Windsor” — more on this amazing event later.

Post a Response to a speech, scene, character, theme, or other dramatic element that you find particularly intriguing (due Monday, June 14).  BE SURE YOU DON’T REPEAT WHAT A PREVIOUS STUDENT HAS WRITTEN.  DON’T USE OUTSIDE SOURCES FOR THIS. I WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK.  The modern text translation of the play may be helpful here.

REMINDER: To post a comment, simply click on “comments” (above), write comment, and “post”

Possible themes and topics to consider (be sure to provide quotes to support your assertions):

• The challenges (frustrations and humiliations) of love
• The role of dreams (and the forest) as representative of the human subconscious
• Puck’s love of mischievousness (the role of the troublemaker or “trickster” figure)
• Transformation (theatre/art as chance to view alternative possibilities) (human fickleness)
• Reason vs. unreason (desire) as opposing forces
• The natural world (of chaos and play) set against the urban world (of laws and obedience)
• Gender/power issues in the play (how is power over others played out?)
• Analysis of the play-within-the-play (what’s so funny about Bottom’s group of actors? What role does it play?)
• The moon as a symbol of “lunacy” – Night vs. Day as symbolism
• Inconstancy vs. constancy (who stays true to themselves? who changes affections regularly?)
• Illusion vs. reality (how does play help viewers distinguish between each?)

Extra Credit: Read William Shakespeare’s Hamlet (1601) and/or watch the 1948 film version of Hamlet (featuring Lawrence Olivier).

For an excellent modern rendition, I recommend the film starring Mel Gibson (Hamlet).

Hello everyone! NYPIRG, the student advocacy group at City Tech, is offering opportunities to join students from across New York this summer in advocacy and volunteer opportunities. To learn more, please visit https://bit.ly/NYPSUM21.

Every other week throughout the summer, NYPIRG will be hosting citywide Student Activist Meet-Ups and Student Leader Meetings. Student Activist Meet-Ups allow you to join students from all across New York to learn about how you can get involved, as well as learning new skills from NYPIRG staff members. Student Leader Meetings are based on NYPIRG’s different issue projects including environmental protection, higher education affordability, establishing a public bank, improving our mass transit, and so much more! If you are at a campus with a NYPIRG chapter in the fall, we also offer for-credit internships where you can learn how to lead campaigns that work on issues in our communities and across New York.

To learn more about these opportunities, please fill out our form at https://bit.ly/NYPSUM21. If you have any questions, please make sure to include them at the form and someone will get back to you as soon as possible!—–

Best,

Kevin Dugan he/hisRegional Supervisor
(516) 361-4006New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG)

PLEASE NOTE: Weekly Office Hours start this Wednesday  (10:30-11 am)

Course Zoom Link: ZOOM

Meeting ID: 851 8309 5557               Passcode: 623155

ATTENDING OFFICE HOURS IS NOT REQUIRED.

Writing Center Information

The Writing Center is offering online tutoring for City Tech students from Monday to Thursday in June 2021. Students who need help with essays, research papers, lab reports, etc. are encouraged to make appointments on Setmore with our writing tutors for one-on one Zoom tutoring.  All genres of writing are welcome!

Writing tutors will meet with students for 45-minute sessions. When coming in to meet with a tutor, students should share electronically the assignment guidelines along with a draft of their work.

For more information, please visit the Writing Center OpenLab site.