MODULE C: REPRESENTATION OF TEXTCONFLICTING PERSPECTIVES

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER:

1. Identify the subject matter (events, personalities and situations) represented in your prescribed text, Julius Caesar:• an event is Caesar’s assassination; Brutus’s funeral

speech; Antony’s funeral speech• a personality is Caesar; or Brutus; or Mark Antony – or the

personality type of a leader.• a situation is basically a “theme” or “idea”; ie. in Julius

Caesar it is politics and democracy; power and manipulation.

2. Identify the conflicting perspectives about each of the above.

3. Analyse how these conflicting perspectives have been represented by the composer.

HOW DO THE FOLLOWING INFLUENCE MEANING:

The words from the syllabus are that you need to: “evaluate how medium of production, textual form, perspective and choice of language influence meaning”.

Medium of production (text type): for example, is it a play or film?

Textual form (choices in structure): is it a drama or comedy? How does Julius Caesar being a tragedy influence the meaning conveyed to the audience?

Perspective: what perspective does the composer/audience take and how is this shaped by their context?

Choice of language: techniques.

SHAKESPEAREAN TECHNIQUESIn Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar the technical and artistic choices of representation include:

soliloquy

juxtaposition of scenes expressing contrary positions

the varied and contrasting rhetorical devices or oratory (e.g. logos/pathos, second/third

person)

dramatic irony

references to the supernatural

symbolism

binaries

imagery

So what can you say about “conflicting perspectives”?

What do we write about besides the obvious, which is that “conflicting perspectives always exist”?

In Blade Runner/Frankenstein, you can focus on ideas about the nature of humanity, the responsibility of the creator, mankind’s need for the natural world …there’s so much to talk about!

But what can you say about “conflicting perspectives”?

Developing your thesis:What does “perspective” mean?

Why do conflicting perspectives always exist?

How do they arise? In other words, how is it that two people viewing the same event can have such different views?

How do composers represent a particular perspective (or different perspectives) to achieve a certain purpose?

How can perspectives be manipulated so that one prevails?

Is your perspective shaped by the perspectives of others?

Your answers to these questions can form the basis or beginning of your ideas and line of argument about “conflicting perspectives”.

Answering the question:

Your question:

How is the representation of conflicting perspectives an integral part of the texts you have studied?

A working thesis would start by asking WHY and then rephrasing the question:

The representation of conflicting perspectives is integral to the texts studied because .....

Avoid only the WHAT

AVOID: describing WHAT the conflicting perspectives are in your texts.

Your essay shouldn’t be about WHAT the different perspectives on a personality, event or situation are. For example, you shouldn’t write: “In ___ text, the composer is opposed to the assassination of Caesar, because _____. This perspective is illustrated by the use of ______. However, there is another conflicting perspective to the issue of his assassination in _____.”

So, the essay should NOT be about picking an event (eg. Caesar’s assassination) and discussing the different perspectives on it (for/against).

Julius CaesarDespot or devoted leader?

Focus on WHY and HOWINSTEAD focus on:

WHY the composer has used conflicting perspectives (how it is integral to achieving their purpose) = topic sentence

HOW composers have represented those perspectives (use of form and techniques to position audiences and privilege a certain perspective) = the majority of your analysis

The essay should be about discussing WHY conflicting perspectives are intrinsic to achieving the purpose of these texts’ composers and HOW those composers represent their perspectives. For example, “Conflicting perspectives are integral to the texts studied due to the inevitable subjectivity of composers. In _____, the composer’s subjective opinion on Caesar’s assassination is clearly illustrated through _____. The composer manipulates the audience to adopt his perspective by________”.

Purpose of composer (why)Positioning audiences (how)

Topic Sentences

Your topic sentences/body paragraph ideas should be about the NATURE of conflicting perspectives – why do they arise? How are perspectives constructed and manipulated?

Conflicting perspectives arise when people view the same event from differing viewpoints, showing the inherent biased in all perspective in life.

Perspectives on an event, situation or personality are always constructed by a composer and the result of their own viewpoint.

Composers use conflicting perspectives to privilege their own values.

Conflicting perspectives exist due to the inevitable subjectivity of composers.

Conflicting perspectives show us that personalities are often constructed and give us a multifaceted, complex portrait of the person.

Conflicting perspectives show us that there are always alternative views to any event, situation or person.

Representations of events, situations, personalities and are often constructed via conflicting perspectives through the composer’s deliberate selection and emphasis in a text.

Related texts

Must deepen or add to your ideas on why and how the composer uses conflicting perspectives to represent a personality, situation or event

May or may not be related to JC

Must use CP in insightful way

Essay StructureIntroduction: thesis; insights into why conflicting perspectives (CP) integral to texts studied; identify texts by title, composer, type

Body sections:- topic sentence about CP idea1 / why integral to texts studied?- how CP idea is demonstrated in core text- how CP idea is demonstrated in related text (draw links to core text)- concluding topic sentence about CP idea.

- topic sentence about CP idea2 / why integral to texts studied? - how CP idea is demonstrated in core text- how CP idea is demonstrated in related text (draw links to core text)- concluding topic sentence about CP idea.

Conclusion:- restate your main points - drive home your line of argument about why CP are integral to the texts you have studied.

In Summary:

1. identify the conflicting perspectives

2. explain why they exist

3. explore how they are created/communicated