Wanna hear a stupid question (1 Viewer)

[SgtSlick]

How poor is this for an essay topis:

King Lear deals with issues of leadership and loyalty. Discuss these issues in light of a production of king lear that u have seen or imagined.

Pah.

 

[Minai]

hahahaha!

I dun even do Lear and i think its funny
wat if u happened to NOT see a production of Lear, and how can u imagine up a whole production? it doesnt seem appropriate to examine and mark a response based on someone's imagination

 

[Morgues]

its not that far fetched.......ive never seen any production of lear and in the test when it asked how 2 scenes can be presented it was a case of both imagination/stuff ive read critics say

but thats just me, probably shouldnt have slept through the video of lear in class

 

[dissonance]

lol - seriously, I don't do King Lear either - but I reckon I could still have a fair go answering that question. Who says the director in my imagined production had to bother reading the script???

 

[Marianna]

its not that bad of a question...

plus isn't it an outcome to know about the production

our school had a whole film/theatre day with directors coming up from melbourne who have worked with disney etc to talk to us about film technique, critique etc

so I don't think its too far off the mark...

plus being a play you need to consider the production the script is only half the text......

one of my modules is Lear we have done heaps on production as well as content, context themes etc... you just need to twist it to order vs chaos and you are sweet

 

[SgtSlick]

Poor Poor Poor

No, this question sucks for several reasons. Firstly u are told to speak of only ONE production, which limits the examples that can be used and also the techniques to discuss. Secondly, Leadership and Loyalty link only to a family and political reading of the play, nothing else. So basically u have to discuss a family readin and political reading of King Lear in realtion to ONE production that u have either seen or dreamt up in the exam. I showed my english teacher and she said the question was arrogant as we cannot possibly claim to stage an imagined production without knowledge of drama and dramtic production - fair enough i sez.
Once again, worst Lear question, EVER.

 

[Morgues]

In the hsc they cant ask you about specific productions.......you can use productions as references but your whole answer can be hypothetical

 

[Minai]

I just have some issues with the "imagined" part of the question. As moonlight said, technically u can interpret that in anyway u want and can twist meaning to, and ppl get away with it

 

[Marianna]

but the question has to say 'imagined' because some people don't have the facilities or means to view a production they can read reviews etc but may not be able to view the production for whatever reason... not everyone is fortunate enough to have their school organise for them to see Lear or to live in the city where many opportunities can arise

"Secondly, Leadership and Loyalty link only to a family and political reading of the play, nothing else"

sure leadership and loyalty may only link to the themes of family and politics but then link those themes to that of order and chaos... family - unconditional vs conditional love --> Edgar , Edmund and Gloucester or Cordelia, Regan, Goneril and Lear... Through Lear and Gloucester's blindness to the unconditional love of their children Cordelia and Edgar respectivley chaos was developed with in the families and also internally within both characters. This conflict was highlighted through the use of weather in the storm seen which in Tanya Denny's production at the Bondi Pavillion was presented throught the use of audio effects, lighting and the sprinkling of sand to give the effect of rain. This added to the scene by allowing the audience to experience the storm on the heath as Lear did and thus convey meaning about the internal conflict that Lear experienced due to his blindness and misinterpretation of the love of his daughters.

Political reading Lear stepping down from the throne first BIG mistake. Lear tends to make very selfish decisions at the beginning of the play without taking note of the advice offered to those around him ie Kent. This enormous political political decision is the beginning of the chaos in the kingdom and fight for the innocent ie Cordelia, Edgar and Kent to restore order. Lear stepping down from the throne is almost like Queen Elizabeth the second deciding she would step down and give England to Charles or one of the boys its just absurd...

you need to link link all these themes into the all encompassing theme of order and chaos and then criticise how the producers have shown this

sure the question only asks for one production but you can use more that one it doesn't say only one... they just want you to use at least one to show that you have considered the play as a stage performance and not only a text...

 

[Marianna]

I like Lear can you tell...

 

[icki]

sure the question says one production...but that doesnt stop u using readings and critics to support ur argument...~
and i think you can still lightly refer to other productions as a alternative perception

 

[SgtSlick]

poo poo

The question specifically and EXPLICITY says "A production" - note the lack of PLURAL. I asked my teacher and she warned that the question meant exactly that:"A" production. So NO u cant use more than one production, yes u can use readings, as long as they fit leadership and loyalty (ie. 2 readings only). So my point is the question is too narrow and allows only for limited discussion. Therefore the question is shit. End of story.

 

[icki]

okok...i get ya point

but i dun agree wif the "narrow" bit

leadership and loyalty can be split up into different facets

eg
leadership in the country- lear as king, and how he stuffed that up
leadership in the family- lear as father, gloucester as father...how successful have they been? how about the children? their reactions...audience reactions
leadership from the gods...do they ultimately dictate lear's life...or did he caused all that suffering by himself?

loyalty
cordelia, edgar.....bring in the christian stuff
disloyalty
edmund, the daughters
how do the audience respond to this now? and back then?

there's heaps to split it up into....i think for lear, its sometimes better to have a more specific question coz of the fact that the play has soooo much~

 

[SgtSlick]

Ok Ok

Alright Ikki - I'll pay that - IF - u can gimme solid examples with techniques used to back up them fightin' words of yours. Hehe.

 

[icki]

y should i?
on a serious note, i'm sure u can find ur techniques etc to support whatever u want, just a matter of whether u can be bothered or not...for my case that's a no coz my trials are.... over!!!!!

 

[fluke]

"wanna hear a stupid question"


do you wanna hear a stupid answer?