Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Class #5 post-game (left: classic works of art)

Sarah wondered what the point of today's exercise was (a good question). You can think of it as a model for a process of active reading (cf. Guide chapter 13). In other words, it trained you to approach the scene with particular questions in mind. This is a useful tool for reading in general, but it should also be apparent that it specifically gives you a way to actively read Act 5 of Midsummer with an eye toward Task A of your paper. Though we also ventured into some aspects of Task B, which we will revisit on Friday along with Alberti.


REMINDER: Buy Alberti's On Painting if you haven't already, and catch up on the reading that Lupton discussed (39-40, 63-85).

REMINDER: Essay #4 working draft due Monday night at 9pm, so if you still have more work to do on your ideas draft, time's a'wasting.

REMINDER: Regular attendance at office hours correlates to higher grades, and probably causes higher grades. (Does not guarantee higher grades.) Alberti, as a humanist and a follower of Aristotle, believes that virtue requires cultivation. I.e. requires practice. Wouldn't more practice, in this case promote greater cultivation of virtue? The same observation is true of working with other students in a study group... why not finish the exercise we did in class today, through the end of the scene?

BONUS: More news about the emerging science of love potions... could there be an anti-love potion? I know we have pretty much left this theme aside in our reading of Midsummer. But it's worth thinking about art as the ability to cause transformations of the ordinary to occur. This is something that festival can do, also magic, religion, or science depending on what you believe.
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2 comments:

  1. MarthaJanuary 16, 2009 at 1:17 PM

    "Remember that on a flat plane the colour remains uniform in every place; in the concave and spherical planes the colour takes variations, because what is here light is there dark, in other places a median color." (83)
    -Here Alberti states the importance of varying lighting. In order for a painting to look realistic, some places must be light, some dark, and others unaffected by light or shade-- the median between light and dark. This median is important to both add depth and greatly enhance the painting. Aristotelian ethics can be fund here because the medium of light and dark is needed, otherwise too much shade wold make the painting dark, and too much light would wash out the vibrant colors. A mixture of all is needed.

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  2. MarthaJanuary 16, 2009 at 1:24 PM

    MONETARY MOTIVE

    1. This play incorporates members of the high class, middle class, and low class, which makes it appeal to an audience that encompasses all the different social classes. With such a wide range of potential audience members, Shakespeare can increase his pay by appealing to everyone. The more people he appeals to, the more people paying to view his play.
    2. The play within a play makes 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' more unique and interesting. It adds a twist to the average theater production and is more mentally stimulating and alluring to audience members, which means a greater audience, meaning more sold tickets.
    3. A certain character does not exactly help Shakespeare reach a monetary goal,however the addition of the craftsmen acting for no money presents the opposite. They are so dedicated to the art of acting that they are perfectly willing to practice and perform for no money at all.

    --My group can add more if I forgot anything

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