The Double Face of Humanity:
Two or Three Things about Dr. Jekyll
and Mr. Hyde
Personal Writing
26 March 2011
To recap:
1. Creative writing
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Paying attention to things around us (observation,
communicating with people, reading, media, etc.)
Using our imagination
Asking questions (what if? why? how?)
2. Introducing The strange story of Dr. Jekyll and
Mr. Hyde (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson
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One among several narratives about
monsters/strange creatures/unusual human issues
in the 19th century
3. The 1920 film adaptation
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b/w, silent (note the way of telling the story)
A faithful adaptation of the original story
(how characters react to their situations)
American production (note the different
levels of life depicted in the film)
4. Some (possible) memorable moments in
the film/story
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Temptation (Oscar Wilde: “I can resist
everything except temptation.”)
Transformation
The other part of the self
Frustration (having 2 selves)
Final decision
Take home assignment
• Write 400 words to tell us what you think is
the most important message in the 1920
film of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
• Submit a hard copy of the assignment next
week.
Today
• Personal narratives
– The Diaries of Adam and Eve (Mark Twain,
1904)
– Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
– 1984 (George Orwell)
• Some information about the final group
presentation
Personal narratives
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Diary
Letters
Blog writing
Memoirs
Autobiography
What are the functions of a diary?
• You may see different samples of our texts
serving different functions – bear this in
mind when you read them.
Case One
The Diaries of Adam and Eve (Mark
Twain, 1904)
– Who are they? Adam? Eve?
– Facts you know about them?
– What associations are usually made to these
two names?
– A representation:
http://www.thebricktestament.com/
• Now read the extracts from the Diaries of
Adam and Eve,
– Discuss the personality of Adam/Eve?
– How does Adam/Eve feel about the partner?
– What support do you have from the text?
• Imagine the diaries of these two
characters are merge together into one
text, will the end result affect your
judgment of these two characters?
• One-act play
http://joshhornbeck.com/samplepdf/Diary
%20of%20Adam%20and%20Eve,%20The
%20-%20Sample%20Script.pdf
• Now take your memory back to Dr. Jekyll.
You have just returned from the music
hall, from a meeting with the Italian
dancer. If you write your diary tonight,
what would you include?
Case Two: Anne Frank
• "Anne" Frank (June 12, 1929 to early
March, 1945) was a Jewish girl who wrote
a diary while in hiding with her family and
friends in Amsterdam during the German
occupation of the Netherlands in World
War II.
• Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Frank and her
family moved to Amsterdam in 1933, after
the Nazis gained power in Germany, and
were trapped by the Nazi occupation of
the Netherlands. As persecutions against
the Jewish population increased, the
family went into hiding in July 1942 in
hidden rooms in her father Otto Frank's
office building.
• After two years in hiding, the group was
betrayed and transported to concentration
camps. Seven months after her arrest,
Anne died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen
concentration camp within days of her
sister, Margot. Her father, Otto, the only
survivor of the group, returned to
Amsterdam after the war ended, to find
that her diary had been saved.
• Read the excerpt from Anne Frank’s diary,
and try to see if you can picture the living
conditions of the hiding place and how she
responded to these conditions.
• From Remembering Anne Frank
(1999/2002)
– A documentary about the short life of Anne
Frank, and what her diary has come to mean
for us
Case Three: 1984
• 1984 is a story of Winston Smith, a lone
fighter struggling against an overwhelming
totalitarian control. In 1984, the world is in
a state of perpetual war, and people in all
countries are living a very much confined
and limited life. In this world, where “Big
Brother is watching you” all the time, there
is no privacy – and Winston's one
remaining weapon against the invasion is
an attempt to keep a diary.
• Read the beginning of the novel.
– http://www.george-orwell.org/1984/0.html
– What does it tell you about writing/writing a
diary?
– What is the meaning of having a diary in a
place (and time) such as 1984?
– Does Winston’s situation seem
familiar/relevant to you?
Personal writing
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e.g. Diary
A record of daily life happenings
A mirror of the self
A companion (to share secrets)
A proof of existence
A place for self-talk
Assignment today
Read the extracts from Diaries of Adam and
Eve. Imagine yourself to be one animal living
in the Garden of Eden and write one diary
entry (300 words).
or
Imagine you are Mr. Hyde. You have decided
to keep a diary to record your feelings about
your “new life”. Submit one entry to me in the
next lesson (300 words).
A reminder about the final performance
• On 14 May 2011 (final session), there will
be a group presentation/performance of
your work during this course …
– Short pieces of your work during the course +
– New additions +
– New approach +
– New “message”