Handout
exercise
You have been assigned to one
of the films in the second half of the course, and you will produce a handout
on that film for the benefit of the class. Your handout should be
no more than one page front and back, and you must use a typeface of no
less than 12 points. Your handout should include some element of
research, but it should also mostly focus on analysis of the film.
Your handout might include a number of elements (these are just suggestions):
-
you can offer a few important facts
about the film garnered from reference sources;
-
you can offer an extremely brief
summary of scholarly research on the film;
-
you can draw the class's attention
to key stylistic elements of the film;
-
you can draw the class's attention
to key ways in which the film accords with and differs from Shakespeare's
script;
-
you can offer a detailed analysis
of a single significant scene or passage, showing how it exemplifies the
interpretation of the film as a whole;
-
you can suggest the film's place
in historical, social, or artistic context, or suggest how it fits in with
performance history.
-
you can compare a given element
to other films of the same play (or by the same director or actor).
A good handout will be well-focused
(information stripped down to its essence and all clearly relevant), clear,
and very well-organized. Certainly give some thought to how you present
the information (feel free to use bullets, different type faces, color,
graphics, etc.), but don't let the presentational pizzazz overwhelm your
ideas. Think of this assignment as the handout you might give out
for a presentation to the class.
You should make 32 copies
of
your handout. It will be distributed to all members of the class
and become the basis of discussions. I will offer you a written evaluation
of your handout. You should feel free to use the handout as a way
of beginning research for your final paper and for organizing your thoughts
about a given film.