semester 1

I really enjoyed the film essay assignment from this semester. It changed the way I was able to watch films and gave me an analytical perspective. I thought that watching the short scenes of Hamlet in different versions showed the amount of creativity that was put into the works by their directors. Overall, it was a great assignment unlike any essay I had written before and I really enjoyed it.

performance choices

If I would've been in class to perform Hamlet, I would've portrayed the scene similarly to the David Tennant version. I think this version is the best in truly showing Hamlet's emotional side. I would make sure to show a contrast between Hamlet's speech with his parents and Hamlet's speech in his soliloquy. I think that the true meaning of a soliloquy is for a character to expose all of his feelings to the audience. So, I would want to act out all of Hamlet's emotions. Moreover, I would perform Hamlet as detached from his parents as David Tennant does in his version.

j. alfred prufrock

The fragmented style of TS Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," reflects the modern man's place in the city and the city's chaotic, fast-paced nature. Eliot's style throws together different ideas which, in effect, come together to create a new picture. For example, fragments such as "yellow smoke" show the industrial elements of a modern society which Eliot tries to portray throughout the poem. Moreover, I see the line, "there will be a time to murder and create," as Eliot showing that there will be time to do many things in a lifetime. However, what you make of this time is what counts. "Visions and revisions" shows that there will be time to correct past mistakes and truly better one's life. The use of the fragments helps convey his message of the meaning of life.