I read Death of a Salesman last year in Ishall. I don't know whether it was because I had read it before or if it was the different medium, but I found the movie much more emotionally involving. I was surprised that, in the class discussion, others didn't focus on Biff's and Willy's relationship as I did, yet veered into a very separate thematic reading. Death of a Salesman made me more comfortable with annotating.
The most recent class essay went the most smoothly for me. I tried to worry less about structure and DIDLS and more about analyzing the poems and supporting my claims. Though it accomplished just about the same thing, the second mind set is familiar ground, a comfort with the time limit. Still, I missed the deeper level in the "Barred Owl;" I looked over the shift in connotations and even the contrast of inside and outside, something I feel I'd usually see right away. The poem seemed simple, and, with the time limit prominently in mind, I went with it.
I hadn't learned much of the literary eras previously, so the presentations were interesting. My group researched Romanticism, which I had previously thought to be rather traditional.; the information I found was surprising and new.
I find it interesting how you thought the moving was more emotionally involving. Maybe because it is more visual, so it is easier to become more emotionally involved. I think you have to learn to be comfortable with going outside your comfort zone, cause who knows, you might find something worthwhile.
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ReplyDeleteI didn't even consider the essay when I wrote this response, it just slipped my mind. After reading, I found "The History Teacher" to be a bit deeper than "Barred Owl", but still missed a bit in both. I think we can credit the movie being more emotionally involving than the book to yet another masterful performance by Dustin Hoffman.
ReplyDeleteLike Beckman, I completely forgot about the essays we wrote in class. I also did not catch most of the deeper meanings behind either of the poems and when Holmes shared to us the information she gathered, I felt like a total idiot. But I think that your feelings towards the movie of the play is interesting. I guess the emotional involvement of any piece, through film or book, depends on the audience and how well they can visualize what they're viewing.
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