Posted: March 26th, 2015

Assignment 4: Drama

Assignment 4: Drama
Total Marks: 150
This assignment, which is based on Units 6 and 7, should take about eight hours to complete. It will be worth 20 per cent of your final grade and should be mailed no later than the end of week 12. It will be marked out of a total of 150 points and will contribute 20 percent toward your final grade for the course.
Part A is worth 50 marks. Part B is worth 100 marks. You are to choose one topic from each.
Part A(on Goodnight Desdemona)
Respond to one of the following questions in a brief essay of no more than 300 words. (50 marks)
1. MacDonald employs both verbal and physical comic devices in Act III, scene iv. Identify two of each and evaluate their relative success.
2. In Act II, scene ii, MacDonald’s Iago enters carrying two buckets of filth. Discuss the dramatic and thematic purposes of this device.
3. Compare the language and style of Constance’s soliloquy at the end of Act I, scene i (from “Regina. . .” to “. . .the world a favor”) with the language and style of her soliloquy at the end of Act III, scene i (from “Thank God” to “a convent around here somewhere”).
4. Discuss the function and significance of Constance’s red toque.
Part B (relates to Othello and/or Goodnight Desdemona)
Write an essay of no more than 600 words on one of the following topics. (100 marks)
1. How does Constance use Desdemona and Juliet for the alchemical process of turning “base metals into gold”? Discuss with specific references to the play.
2. Like Shakespeare in Othello, MacDonald employs highly significant animal imagery. Compare her use of the “mouse” with one of the dominant animal images (or a chain of related animal images) in Shakespeare.
3. In both Othello and in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare uses the device of fateful mistakes to develop the tragic action. Can similar kinds of mistakes be said to happen in Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), but to comic ends instead? Compare MacDonald’s use of this device with one of the “mistakes” in Othello.
4. Swordplay is used in both Othello and Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet). Discuss how these same plot devices are used to such different ends in both plays.