Worksheet 7.2: Chapter 7 Freytag s Pyramid

Transcription

1 Worksheet 7.2: Chapter 7 Freytag s Pyramid English Language and Literature coursebook, pages 163 and 166. Figure 7.2 on page 163 of the coursebook is a simple yet fundamental tool for your understanding of, and use in, literary analysis. You are encouraged especially to use Freytag s Pyramid in your study of fiction. However, nonfiction and poetry may also contain the features of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement. The key purpose for this worksheet is for you to use Freytag s Pyramid and other means to build precision and confidence in plot analysis. Charting your course forward Activity 7.2 on page 165 of the coursebook is valuable in your preparations for the individual oral commentary (the assessment for part 4 texts) and Paper 2 (the assessment for part 3 texts). There are many commonalities between these assessments, but you should also recognise the distinctions: for part 4, occurring before the part 3 exam, you are required to prepare an oral assessment on Literature: a critical study. You are required to speak individually for ten minutes, and then discourse with your teacher about an extract which will be randomly drawn from your studied texts that is to say, you will be familiar with the text but you will not have a choice about which extract you will analyse. for part 3, occurring as the final IB assessment in the course, you are required to prepare an essay on Literature: texts and contexts. The texts you will need to write about (for 90 minutes in the SL exam, or 120 minutes in the HL exam) will be those you have studied, and open to your own selection of examples from part 3 texts, provided these examples assist your mandatory response to one of the prompts specific to that exam. Using Freytag s Pyramid Both assessments depend on your studied approach to the literature designated to these parts of your course. Freytag s Pyramid is an excellent resource to use toward your study. Let s add some features to the basic design. Refer to some of the literary terms already suggested in the opening pages of Chapter 7 in the coursebook, such as suspense (page 162), setting (page 162), and foreshadowing (page 164). Other terms can be found later in the chapter or in the Glossary provided on pages In the space provided on the next sheet, draw a larger copy of Freytag s Pyramid (Figure 7.2 on page 163 of the coursebook). Add whatever literary terms you can in the most logical place they might occur in a plot. Copyright Cambridge University Press All rights reserved. IB_ell_7_ws2 Page 1 of 5

2 Perhaps you included some of the following? an expression of atmosphere with the setting a foil character a sub-plot a soliloquy, an aside or some other self-realisation a form of irony a symbolic image an identification of conflict the protagonist s dilemma ; an epilogue or some other means of resolution (denouement). Worksheet 7.3 will help you to develop these terms further. Copyright Cambridge University Press All rights reserved. IB_ell_7_ws2 Page 2 of 5

3 Basic storyboarding From fairy tales to film epics such as Star Wars, it should be possible to storyboard the basics: Begin with the notion of a hero or the more operative term protagonist: A hero may or may not be heroic (think about Macbeth, Napoleon or Emma Bovary) A protagonist has some agon ( agony ) or conflict to wrestle with (think about Hamlet, Nelson Mandela or Jane Eyre). Continue with considerations of context: A setting may or may not be clear (think about historical South Africa, or Tolkien s fantastical Middle Earth ) A setting may have some particular atmosphere, or zeitgeist (think about 19th-century London, or the still unfolding Arab Spring ). Figure 7.3 on page 166 of the coursebook simultaneously mocks such a simple approach to storyboarding and challenges our preconceptions of characterisation and conflict. Rewrite this cartoon, supplying a protagonist and setting of your choice. The protagonist might be non-fictional, like Nelson Mandela, or fictional, like Jane Eyre. The point is to add your own touch of sophistication to the sometimes simplistic model of cartoon plots. Once upon a time Suddenly Luckily Then Copyright Cambridge University Press All rights reserved. IB_ell_7_ws2 Page 3 of 5

4 Beyond the basics Most great storyboard ideas begin with a simple grid like the one in this exercise, but are then developed way beyond it. Elaborating from the model How would you develop one of your part 3 texts beyond a basic Freytag Pyramid or cartoon storyboard? Here is how one student begins to analyse the plot of Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet: When I think of the rising action of Romeo and Juliet, I must reflect on the history of pre-arranged marriages, including those that happen with tragic ramifications in today s presumed democratic societies. Romeo and Juliet are the protagonists their fates are inseparable but still I wonder if one of them has a distinct dilemma over the other Perhaps it is ironic that Romeo, as a male Montague, has as much difficultly as Juliet, as a female Capulet. Then I think of foil characters: Mercutio, who warns Romeo against the lure of Queen Mab s passionate dreams, or Friar Lawrence, who wisely warns that they stumble that run fast (Act II, Scence 3). The climax must be the killing of Tybalt the audience would certainly think so! But then again, shouldn t the climax be about Romeo, or Juliet, and their inner conflicts?... Now I need to think about the falling action the inevitable factors toward a tragic denouement. Are there any sub-plots here to help the analysis? No, not really. Are there symbols or other representations? I know that They lived happily ever after will not be the case in this drama Is there any other piece in the puzzle I might be missing? Yes: it s the couple themselves! We know they cannot live happily ever after, but they die lovingly together. Their understanding of the external constraints is apparent, and their final proclamation of love(although complicated by dramatic irony) is consistent with their original vows. Strangely, Shakespeare has enabled such proclamations of love to survive beyond a happily ever after, causing me to think. And so you should continue to think, beyond the basics of Freytag s Pyramid, or Christopher Booker s basic argument about tragedy (see Activity 7.3 on page 166 of the coursebook), and even beyond the framework of the IB exams in the individual oral commentary or Paper 2. Copyright Cambridge University Press All rights reserved. IB_ell_7_ws2 Page 4 of 5

5 Over to you Now try to outline and analyse the plot of one of your part 3 or 4 texts. You should resist trying to pigeon-hole literature your grids and lists should not try to establish the last word of literary analysis! At the same time, you need points of departure. 1. Try out your own application of Freytag s Pyramid in the space below. Identify the exposition (what the text attempts to expose ), the essential points of rising action, the climax, the evidence of falling action and the denouement. The denouement may be open with more possibilities for a future development of the plot or closed, with no more possibilities available. Add other literary terms that you can. 2. Now develop your storyboard further, either in plot boxes, bulleted lists or some other format. As the student example above demonstrates, add questions or exclamations that add to your unfolding inquiry and discovery. Use the space below or continue on a separate sheet if necessary. Copyright Cambridge University Press All rights reserved. IB_ell_7_ws2 Page 5 of 5