YEAR 12 LESSONS 38/39/40 [25th/26th Feb and 4th March 14]: Homework

The content of all three sessions involved the reading and discussion of Jez Butterworth's JERUSALEM. This controversial modern play is a complex text and demands a close reading. Students are expected to digest ALL the resources that have been offered in class and via the blog as the coursework demands an informed and sophisticated level of textual understanding. Students need to consider how they would answer the following questions:

• Why does Butterworth offer so many allusions to the comedic conventions of Shakespeare?
• Why does Butterworth offer so many allusions to Romantic Literature?
• What is the symbolic significance of Rooster Byron? What ideas are being presented to the audience through this character?
• What kind of England is being presented to the audience in this play?
• To what extent can this play be considered to be a comedy?
• How do you interpret the final section of Act Three? How do you view the moment when Phaedra dances with Byron? How do you view the final moments of the play when a bloody and branded Byron is defiantly banging a drum and  attempting to summon the giants of England to help him fight authority?

HOMEWORK: Read the play and digest ALL the resources. At the very least you should be familiar with my podcast. Tomorrow we shall be examining the text in detail with particular focus placed on the symbolic nature of Byron. Tomorrow we begin constructing content that will be used to create coursework. THE NEXT FEW LESSONS WILL ALL BE RELATED TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF AS LIT COURSEWORK.
Link to podcast:
http://soundcloud.com/fishymedia/an-as-lit-podcast-jez 
Here is a link to BILL HICKS. This is serious comedy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X56vWHFGGU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11Fl9ZVJ7B8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo