Notes On Module A (Richard III and Looking for Richard)

Resource Description

Not written by me, provided to me by my teachers. This doc breaks down everything to do with Module A: Richard III and Looking for Richard. Has detailed notes and examples for both texts and strategies for approaching this section.

WHY
This is a reflection of the composer’s context, beliefs & values.
WHAT
What the composer chooses to represent. Process of construction – ideas/plot/events of the text.
HOW
The language forms and features that they choose to use in representing their ideas. Process of construction – choice of textual form, point of view, techniques, etc.
WHY
The audience in engaging with the text is positioned to accept a set of assumptions about the world as the composer’s agenda/perspective/values is privileged over others.
EFFECT
Messages are conveyed at a micro (textual) level. Messages are conveyed at a macro (universal/conceptual) level. Composer successfully conveys their perspective and achieves their purpose.

Rubric

Resonances & Dissonances
The Textual Conversations module asks students to “explore the ways in which the comparative study of texts can reveal resonances and dissonances between and within texts” The central focus of Textual Conversations is what the two texts share in common and how they differ. This is a comparative study so you will be comparing two texts to see these similarities and differences and how they develop meaning. A ‘resonance’ is a reflection or reverberation of something else, when a text has a resonance, something from an earlier text is appearing or being referenced in a more recent text. A ‘dissonance’ is an absence of agreement between two things, this is a way of suggesting that two texts present different perspectives on an idea or that a specific theme or idea is entirely absent from one of the texts.

How Composers Are Influenced By Other Texts

The Textual Conversations module states “by comparing two texts students understand how composers (authors, poets, playwrights, directors, designers and so on) are influenced by other texts, contexts and values, and how this shapes meaning”. This point is asking you to contemplate the influences on the composers of texts. When engaging in a comparative study you need to consider the potential influences on composers. This rubric point is asking you to explore the overt influences that other texts, social and cultural values, and beliefs can have on the meaning composers place in texts.

Identify The Purpose of Two Prescribed Texts

The Textual Conversations module asks students to “identify, interpret, analyze and evaluate the textual features, conventions, contexts, values and purpose of two prescribed texts”. This point is telling you what you need to focus on in your study of the two texts and how you need to do it.

Identify – You have to engage with the texts and single out the points of interest.

Interpret – You need to interpret what meaning the specific features and influences of the text are conveying or attempting to convey.

Evaluate – You have to consider the effectiveness of these features and influences.

Textual Features – These can be the use of specific techniques or structural aspects of a text, such as perspective.

Conventions – These are accepted practices that have developed over time. Some examples are the conventions of punctuation or the use of a two-shot in a film to show a relationship between two characters.

Contexts – The range of historical, geographical, social, and cultural circumstances surrounding a text and its composition.

Values – The ideas and beliefs presented in a text.

Purpose – Composers create texts for reasons other than entertainment, they are also vehicles for persuading us about specific ideas. Your job, as a reader, is to come to grips with what those ulterior  purposes are.

Context
King Richard III
Shakespearian historical play written in 1593 that focuses on Richard III’s life and attempt to become king. Set during the English Renaissance (late 1500s) while the Tudor’s were in power, and the play features them; it is recent history. Set during a time of political and religious unrest (War of the Ross) with the Catholics being persecuted. The play provides a contrast between providentialism and free will while politics can be seen as Machiavellian, it was believed that the leader had to be godly; they were appointed by God (Divine Right of Kings) and had to follow Catholic morals. Another important point to note is that England during the period was a highly religious and pre-deterministic state. The English largely believed in fate and assumed that people’s lives were already planned out by God. There was no acceptance of free will or ambition, so, anyone who challenged God’s plan could expect to suffer his retribution. Women were seen as weak within the time and as needing to be protected.

Looking For Richard

Documentary film made in 1996 directed by Al Pacino that is both a performance of selected scenes of King Richard III and a broader examination of Shakespeare’s continuing role and relevance in popular culture. Film is set within American contemporary society, post-cold war era, where individualism was a rising ideology. This meant that an individual’s self-worth is determined by their goals and achievements as opposed to being pre-determined by God. With this, came the ‘American Dream’, a growing ideal where equal opportunities are provided to all Americans to achieve their highest goals and aspirations. In addition, in the context of the 1990s there was an increased understanding of the human psyche compared to the Elizabethan Era. As opposed to categorizing people as ‘good’ or ‘evil’, society now recognizes that there is a deeper psychological understanding of desire, guilt, inner conflicts and other human experiences that the Elizabethan Era categorized as God’s or the Devil’s doing.

Plot

King Richard III

England is relatively stable under King Edward IV’s (Richard’s brother) reign until he begins to get ill, as he approaches death Richard III, the Duke of Gloucester, sees this as an opportunity to take the throne and to do this he must wipe out any possible heirs. Richard is manipulative, power hungry and very, very intelligent. Richard frames his brother, Clarence, and sends him to the Tower of London, where he is killed which wipes out a possible heir. Edward dies and Richard III is claimed as the Lord Protector of England. This means that he is now ‘king’ until Edward’s sons become of age. Lord Buckingham helps Richard campaign for the throne however a threat still exists, the young princes, so Richard III sends the two princes into the tower where they are murdered. T e ghosts of Richard’s victims return to haunt him, foreshadowing his downfall, Richmond enters England and declares war. At Bosworth, Richmond and Richard’s armies fight and Richard is slain.

Looking For Richard

Al Pacino is the director, producer and actor within this historical docudrama, the film documents the process of creating his project; making King Richard III more accessible to the 20 th Century American audience. Pacino’s docudrama consists of discussing the original play and its history, as well as debates about changes to the original script to make it more suitable for the 20 th Century audience. There is an intertwining of storytelling, stage directions, rehearsals, and even interviews of scholars, random people on the street, actors and critics. The film attempts to offer a deeper, more intimate understanding of the director’s choices to perform and adapt King Richard III, actor’s opinions on these changes, and the contemporary reception of the general public to Shakespeare’s work.