Write a Letter to Someone
1)Write a Letter to Someone
This assignment is an opportunity to offer a less structured but serious personal reflection on the class.
You may write a letter to:
oMe
oThe class
oYour future self, or a past version of yourself
oSomeone in your life, living or dead
oA fictional character or author we encountered during the class
oA friend
oOther person of your choice
In this letter, please reflect on the following:
oSomething you have learned, or gained, or come to question, as a result of something you’ve read in this class
§(doesn’t mean you have to pretend to love The Odyssey or whatever else! In fact, please don’t pretend anything)
oWhat it’s been like to study the comparatively deep past (prior to 1650 CE), something often hidden from us in our daily lives?
oYour relationship to the various languages that you speak, or hope to learn in the future
oHow your relationship to reading, texts, and writing have changed over this semester (as I don’t doubt they have, whether obviously or subtly)
oPlease also feel free to reflect on:
§“Where” you are in your own life right now
§What it’s like for you being a student and/or a worker right now
§Your hopes and dreams for the future
§Things you’re worried about, or challenges you are encountering
§The place of reading, text, or language in your community/communities
Criteria for evaluation will be:
oThoughtfulness and a genuine willingness to reflect
oClear writing with good attention to clarity and word choice (no need for thesis statement and such, since it’s a letter rather than an essay)
oMaking connections between things we discussed or read for class and your own life as a person in the world
2)Film Review (3-4 double-spaced pages)
Choose a film related to one of our course texts (1000s are free via the library)
Explain how the film relates to the text (inspired by it? Adapted from it? Etc.)
Discuss and evaluate at least three different interpretive decisions the filmmaker makes (i.e., decisions about how to handle the original text).
How does studying the filmmakers’ interpretive choices affect your understanding of the original text?
Some Ideas:
On the subject of the Spanish Inquisition (or rather the equivalent in France), The Sorceress, directed by Suzanne Schiffman. French with English subtitles. Available free through Kanopy. Surprisingly uplifting.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093556/
The Egyptian, an adaptation of the Sinuhe story (haven’t seen it, can’t vouch for quality), or another adaptation of “Sinuhe”
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046949/
Any of the inestimably huge number of Hamlet adaptations. The Lion King is fine as long as you do more than note the similarities and differences in your analysis (I know Sarabi doesn’t marry Scar, etc.). I’ve been curious about this one:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1449175/
Film versions Life is a Dream or any drama from the period (Spanish or otherwise)
3)Prepared Dramatic Reading:
Make a video or audio recording of yourself delivering a thoughtful and well-rehearsed reading of a passage from a text we read, or another from before 1650 CE.
Aim for at least 1 .5 minutes long (shorter is okay if you’re reading short poems. In that case, please read two of them)
Poems are an obvious choice. Also consider choosing a monologue or soliloquy from a play.
This option gives us a different way of figuring out the meaning of words: by thinking about how they should sound out loud.
Focus on understanding the text first and foremost, looking up any words or idioms you don’t know.
In an accompanying reflection of about 300 words (which needn’t have a thesis statement, since it’s not an essay), reflect on the following issues related specifically to the vocalization of poems out loud.
Which parts of the poem tripped you up as you tried to read them in a way that makes sense with their meaning?
What decisions about tone did you have to make?
What are the hardest parts of the text to understand?
Where are the major turning points in the passage? How did you reflect these in your reading?
For poetry: The ends of sentences and the ends of line generally coincide? If not, how did you reflect the tension between the poetic line (the unit of form) and the sentence (the unit of meaning)? Are there line breaks where you deliberately do not pause too much because they fall in the middle of sentences?
4)Creative Project of Your Choice
Made an episode of a podcast about some aspect of the course that’s genuinely interesting to you (6-8 minutes)
Set a poem related to one of our texts to music
Create a work of visual art
Make your own version of an object that appears in a text we’ve read
Anything that would be valuable to you (consult with instructor if unsure)
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