Relevance of Antigone to Our Lives, to Our World: Final Project
World Literature II Periods 4, 6, 8
Mrs. Maloney
December 2009
For this final assessment, you will explore the relevance of Antigone to your life and/or to the world in which you life. This assignment asks you to take your reading of, and your thinking about, the play and to apply it to what you know, to what you’ve lived and/or otherwise seen; and to create something new out of this.
In your project, you should aim to demonstrate the following:

A full and accurate reading of the play
 An understanding of Sophocles’s language and of play as an artistic creation

Critical thinking into the meaning(s) of the play

Original thought as you connect Antigone to your/our world today

An understanding of tragedy as a genre

Effort equal to the time you are given (and to the number of members in your group, if relevant)

Fluid, accurate and skillful writing, including avoidance of technical errors

Effective and apt integration of at least three quotations from Antigone
Assignment due date: Tuesday, December 22
You will have five days to work on the projects, including three days in the computer room (12-17, 12-18, 12-21). Plan accordingly, based on the time you have. You should, of course, also work on the project outside of class.
For this assignment you may choose one of the following three options:

Write a personal essay

Write an original story or screenplay

(group option) modern adaptation of Antigone
Personal Essay Option:
A personal essay is in many ways unlike a traditional expository essay. Notably, you do not need to have the traditional essay structure, provided that what you say holds together; and you write in the first-person (using “I,” etc.). In comparison to a traditional expository essay, a personal essay can be very liberating, allowing you to express yourself freely and honestly; you can write in the way you actually speak and/or think. A personal essay can allow you to express many emotions and even to be humorous. You can bring many things into a personal essay, including anecdotes from your life, historical facts, and current events.

I want to give you an opportunity to write a personal essay about something you’ve read, and Antigone, with its strong opinions and arguments, offers good material for such an essay.
Assignment: In response to your reading of Antigone, you will write a personal essay in which you express your personal reaction to the play.
You will do this by connecting the action of the play to your life and/or to the world in which you live. For example, you might discuss:
 How does the play “speak to you”? Can you relate to it at all? (Remember the
“pre-writing” we did: Maybe you can bring that together with your knowledge of the play, now that you’ve read the play.)
 How does the play “speak to the world in which we live”? What connections do you find between the play and the world? Does the play continue to have relevance? Does the play “continue to be acted out” in the world around you?
You will use the personal voice (“I”) to write a cohesive essay.
You will integrate into your essay at least three quotations from the play.
Expectations: Your essay needs to reflect a thorough knowledge of the play, as well as effort to consider how the play relates to your life and/or the world in which you live (in other words, you consider the play’s relevance). Your essay should reflect an effort to write carefully and/or to revise your writing for accuracy, flow and cohesion.
You might find it useful to consider the following questions as you decide what you might say in your essay:

Can you relate to any of the action of the play? Can you relate to any of the characters?
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Is Antigone a role model? Is anyone else?
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Does this play have relevance to the world in which you live? How?
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What is your opinion of what happens in Antigone ? What satisfies and/or disappoints you?
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What do you dislike about the play?
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What/whom do you admire (in the play)?
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What can we learn from this play? What does it teach and/or encourage, and how? What true things does it say?
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Does this play suggest that tragedies are worth reading? Why or why not?

Is it worth reading this play? Is it important to read this play?
Note: By no means do you need to touch on all of these questions. Also, keep in mind that you do not need to say that you love the play and/or admire the characters.
Screenplay Option

You will write an original screenplay of Antigone .
On your own, you might choose to write an original screenplay of Antigone . If you do so, you might need to summarize some scenes and have full dialogue for other scenes. In all ways, you should model the appearance of the script after what you see in the book we have been using. Screenplay writing does have very specific formatting guidelines, which are available online. I’m not concerned that you follow this formatting exactly, but I do expect that your screenplay resembles at least the format in the book.
Make sure that you include in your script at least three actual quotes from Antigone .
Group Option (Create an Adaptation):
Assignment taken (and adapted) directly from: http://ghoke.edublogs.org/files/2009/01/antigone_project.pdf
(Thanks to this source):
BACKGROUND
The play Antigone has been read and performed for over 2,000 years. Some productions are faithful to the Greek text, and others have been radically modernized. In 1944,
Anouilh, a French playwright, rewrote Sophocles' play and set it in Nazi-occupied Paris.
This modernized drama emphasized the theme of the conflict between moral beliefs and autocratic power that was reflected in the politics of the time. In the 1960s, a critic compared Antigone's act of rebellion with acts of civil disobedience that occurred as part of the civil rights movement. In the 1970s, Antigone's actions were praised by feminists; in the 1980s, a critic focused on the conflict between Antigone's duty to her family and the duty to herself and her husband-to-be.
THE TASK
Imagine that you and your group are the producers of a modernized version Antigone .
You might be planning either a film or a theatrical production (a play). You may set your story in any time or place, in a historical or imagined scenario, but it must be faithful to the major themes and conflicts in the play.
REQUIREMENTS
Note: Every group member will be required to write and to submit a short paper of at least one double-spaced page. In this paper the member will explain his/her own thoughts about Antigone and its connections to the world today; how you feel about your presentation; what you contributed to your project.
Together, your group members will submit:

A prospectus for the movie/play, which will be submitted to motion picture companies – or to theatres/producers. A prospectus is a document describing the major features of a proposed project in enough detail so that prospective investors may evaluate it
(dictionary.com). Your prospectus must be professional in appearance and wellorganized. It must include the following content:
1.
Convincing reasons why your remake of Sophocles's drama, Antigone , will be a popular success. Discuss the major themes and conflicts of your production and how they are relevant to a movie audience of today.
Make clear whether your production is aimed at a mass audience, or to a smaller, more specialized audience.
2.
Basic plot outline, including setting (time and place) and characters. Remember that while your movie must be appealing to a segment of today's movie-goers, it need not be set in the present.
3.
Costuming notes. Visually present the most important costume of each of your major characters. Accompany each picture with an explanation of the effect you will be creating with this costume, the source of the inspiration, and comments about the fabrics and colors.
4.
Music notes. Explain what you want the musical director to achieve in writing the score in terms of overall emotional impact. List which particular scenes will be emphasized by powerful music and state what emotion will be aroused by this music. Refer to your use of music in your videotape as an effective example.
5.
An original script of what you consider to be the most significant scene in your movie, accompanied by stage and lighting directions and a photocopy of the original script for comparison. Choose a scene which emphasizes the theme(s) and conflict(s) which you have chosen to highlight in your movie. Integrate into this scene at least three quotes from Sophocles’s play.
6.
Video. Prepare a video of the performance of the script which you have written
OR perform it in class.
Pay close attention to staging, lighting, costumes, music and, of course, delivery. View your video to be sure that the visual and sound qualities are good.