Link to my Cleopatra article, "Cleopatra, Content Queen: Shakespeare's Viral Monarch in Antony and Cleopatra"

For those interested, the class inspired me to write a shortish article on Cleopatra as the first "content queen," or a proto-influencer who uses her ability to be many people all at the same time to distribute her image across the ancient world and consolidate power. You can read it for free via this link on Medium (otherwise you have to pay to read it). It might give you some ideas for the final paper: https://joshuagrasso-58239.medium.com/cleopatra-content-queen-shakespeares-viral-monarch-in-antony-and-cleopatra-c-1607-aced97c49d9d?sk=1475ef86a453ad5154499655547ba4dd

Final Questions: Antony and Cleopatra, Acts 4-5

For your final set of questions, I'm going to divert from the normal 'guiding' questions and just give you some very simple prompts to explore. Where you decide to go with these will shape the path of our conversation next week! 

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Discuss a moment or scene that would be very hard to stage in performance. Why is this? How might you solve it? OR, does it need to be there at all?

Q2: Discuss a moment of legitimate catharsis in Acts 4 or 5. Where do we feel a strong sense of pain, loss, horror, or release? How does Shakespeare accomplish this for you?

Q3: Discuss a moment where the comic takes over the tragic. How does this happen, and do you think everyone would read/hear it this way?

Q4: Disucss a speech (long or short) that you feel would survive the play as a stand-alone poem. Why is this? What makes it so satisfying simply from the point of poetry? 

For Thursday: Antony and Cleopatra, Act 2-3

NOTE: Even though we talked a little about Act 2, we'll come back to it a little on Thursday. However, try to read through Act 3 for class, and we'll do an in-class writing to launch off our discussion. Some ideas to consider...

* Why does Enobarbus switch into verse when he gives his famous speech about Cleopatra in Act 2? What does this say about his attitude toward her? Is he as racist as the Romans? Or is he an Egyptian at heart?

* Somewhat related to the above, what role does Enobarbus seem to perform in the play? Though a loyal supporter of Antony, why is he looking for a way out in Act 3? Or was this always his intention? Is he a Brutus or Cassius to Antony's Caesar (to cite our previous play)?

* What is Caesar's opinion of Antony throughout these acts, but especially in Act 2? Why does he agree to marry off his sister to her, especially given their heated words at their historic meeting?

* What role does the Soothsayer play throughout these acts, and how might it echo the one we saw in Julius Caesar ("beware the ides of March")? And why might Shakespeare always slip in some element of the supernatural into his tragedies? 

* Why does Cleopatra sabotage Antony's sea battle against Caesar in Act 3? Was this a test of her love? Or was she secretly plotting against him? 

* In the big fight between Antony and Cleopatra in 3.13, Antony says some very nasty things to her, to which she responds, "Not know me yet?" What does she mean by this? What does she think he should 'know' about her, especially since she often hides her true intentions? 

For Tuesday: Antony and Cleopatra, Acts 1-2

As always, answer TWO of the following: 

Q1: In many ways, this is a play about acting, and no one acts more extravagantly as Cleopatra. As Enobarbarus (her servant) says about her, "I have seen her die twenty times upon poor moment" (1.2). Why does she spend so much of her time with Antony in 'costume' rather than being more 'real'? Is there a reason a woman like Cleopatra might view life as a performance? 

Q2: How do the Romans in the play, such as Caesar, regard Antony's behavior? Though he's a great warrior and clearly a great lover (to win Cleopatra's affections), what makes him seem 'unmanly' to them? Do people in Egypt share the same opinion? Does he? 

Q3: From Acts 1-2, does this seem like a love story? Are they madly, passionately in love, or is it more a power play? Is he using her for political advantage? Is she? How does their language in Act 1 betray their emotions? 

Q4: How does Shakespeare create the 'setting' of Egypt through his language? In other words, what makes Egypt 'sound' differently than Rome or Romans? How does he create this illusion (Act 1.2 is a good example). 

Q5: How would you stage Act 2, Scene 5, particularly the scenes with Cleopatra and the Messenger? Is this a scene of high comedy, where Cleopatra loses it and acts like a spoiled child? Or is this a deeply tragic scene, where she realizes that the one hold she had over Antony’s affections is lost? Use a line or two to support how you think we’re supposed to read (and stage) this scene. 

Paper #3: Teaching Tragedy

English 3213

Paper #3: Teaching Tragedy

PROMPT: Your Paper #3, as promised, is a bit different than the first two. For this assignment I want you to design an assignment, a classroom activity, or a set of 8-10 discussion questions for ONE of the plays from class. However, the audience for these assignments should be either a High School Classroom, OR a Book Club/Library Discussion Group. In other words, not a college classroom with English majors who are already pretty sophisticated and interested in the material. Imagine that you’re trying to help them read, appreciate, and understand Shakespeare via your assignment. So don’t make it too sophisticated, but DO make it challenging and thought-provoking.

IDEAS: Here are some things you might focus on in your assignment/activity/questions:

• Helping people read/understand Shakespeare’s language
• Applying Poole’s ideas about tragedy to a specific play
• Focusing on issues of character and class/rank
• Exploring the role of Fate vs. Free Will
• Problem scenes and how to stage them
• Finding and feeling catharsis
• Men vs. women—their roles and characters
• Comedy vs. Tragedy
• Ideas about adaptation (how Shakespeare did it, or how you could)
• Reading modern politics through his characters/plots
• Glossing/defining specific words or phrases that are not commonly known or have changed over time

REQUIREMENTS: Your assignment should have two components: (a) an assignment sheet, that documents the assignment, activity, or discussion questions for someone to engage with. Imagine that this is what you would give to the class or group (1-2 pages). And (b) a short reflection explaining how you approached it and what you hope to achieve through it—how people might respond, etc (also 1-2 pages).

If you do the assignment, remember it doesn’t have to be completely analytical—it can also be creative in nature. This especially goes for the activity: it can be something creative and hands-on, but still thoughtful and engaging. And if you do the discussion questions, make sure they’re specific and thoughtful: no one-sentence questions like “do you think Hamlet is insane?” And try to make the questions instigate wider discussion and even debates. Don’t ask something that you already know the answer to: feel free to ask questions that you, yourself, are still pondering (that’s what I do!).

DUE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25^th by 5pm [no class that day!]