Strathmore Secondary College
Unit 1 and 2 Literature 2013
Student Roll
Course Handouts
Submission of homework
Intro to Literature
Welcome to Year 11 Literature!
Why did you choose to study
Literature?
1. Write down 5 reasons
2. Discuss with the person beside you
What is Literature???
Write down your definition.
Find a different person to compare your ideas
with
Literature – a definition:
(Write this in your books)
Writings in which expression and form, in
connection with ideas of permanent and
universal interest, are characteristic or
essential features.
1. Underline the key words of this definition.
2. Use this definition to come up with 10 texts
that you would categorise as literature
Literary Fiction
Popular Fiction
Can have a strong plot,
but this feature is not
necessarily dominant
Develops the plot with a
strong sense of narrative
forward movement
Requires more
concentrated, sustained
attention when reading
Requires less
concentrated type of
reading than Literary
fiction
Is interested in the
Is less inclined to dwell
nuances and complexities on the minutiae of
of language and the
experience or the
human experiences
description of a
landscape
TASK 1: Look at your list of literary texts again.
Do they fit the ideas from the table?
TASK 2: Now make a list of the texts you
read/viewed in the holidays. Put a mark beside
the ones that you would class as literature.
Now we know what it is, why do we
study it???
1. List 5 reasons why the study of literature is
important.
2. Share you 5 reasons with 2 other people (not
the same people as last time)
Circle activity – double circle discussions
Form an outer and inner circle – facing each
other.
2 minutes for each discussion point
1. What is your favourite piece of literature?
2. What literary character best represents you?
3. What literary character would you most
aspire to be like? Why?
4. What literary character do you dislike the
most? Why?
1. What are your strengths in English?
2. What are your weaknesses in English
3. What do you hope to get out of the
Literature course?
Learning Goal:
To understand the context of Louis Nowra and
‘Cosi’
LOUIS NOWRA
Cosi
Louis Nowra:
• Born on December 12th 1950
• One of Australia’s leading playwrights
• He is a significant cultural commentator
CONTEXT
What does the word CONTEXT mean??
What is Louis Nowra’s context?
Write down your definition
Context: Yours and Nowra’s
• Context: environment, surroundings,
circumstances, time period……
• When we think of context, we think of
‘where’ and ‘when’ a text was created. This
impacts the meaning of the text.
• Remember – the context of the texts, writer
and audience can be different!
Context Definition:
Copy the definition into your workbook
1. The parts surrounding a written or spoken
word or passage that can throw light on its
meaning
2. The interrelated conditions in which
something exists or occurs
Your Context…
• What is your context? Consider the era in
which you are born and live, the place you
live, social and political issues that impact you,
family influences…?
• What influences your life and your view of the
world?
Write these ideas in your book
‘Cosi’
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Reflect on your holiday homework…
What was Nowra’s context??
When did he write ‘Cosi’?
Why did he choose the setting?
What were the major social and political
issues presented in ‘Cosi’
TASK: Discuss with the person beside you. Take
notes in your workbook.
Quotes from the introductory notes
that might help you…
• autobiographical re-construction
• Myriad collection of differently and
imperfectly remembered situations
• Nowra investigates our culture through
metaphor, parable and influence
• Details with frightening precision the tragedy
and humour of every day lives
Nowra’s Context
• When he wrote the play he was going through one of
his most difficult periods in life
• The character of Lewis is loosely based on Nowra
himself. At 21 he took a job of directing a play in an
institution. He felt terror and responsibility.
• Nowra felt 21 was a major turning point in his
understanding of people.
• Both of his grandmothers suffered from mental illness.
He was interested in peoples’ perception of the
mentally ill and the treatment they received
Your Perceptions…
Discuss the following in groups:
• How did people view the mentally ill 100 years ago? 50
years ago? Today?
• What has changed? What is similar?
• How do you view the mentally ill? Why do you hold
these perceptions?
• Do you know someone with a mental illness? What are
their experiences?
Think back to last year and your study of ‘Curious
incident of the dog in the night time’
• How does he see the world?
• How does society view him?
• How did studying this text alter your perceptions
of people with a mental illness?
TASK: Discuss these ideas with the person beside
you.
Write down 2 ideas for each dot point
• http://youtu.be/RGRD6JBnHrU
‘One flew over the cuckoo’s nest’ clip
http://youtu.be/JNkwGVl_a-M
Homeland clip
Use of humour in ‘Cosi’
• In ‘Cosi’ humour is used to move the play along
and to reflect critically on what is often a tragedy
of human suffering.
• The play exposes weaknesses and stupidity, it
ridicules our prejudices and popular institutions.
• The comic element links the suffering and the
existence of a range of individuals.
Importance of Setting
• Setting – the burnt out stage. This is a
metaphor for the world at large.
• The Vietnam war (1962-1975) frames the
drama – war, anti war beliefs. Shows the
madness on the outside.
• The play says just as much about life outside
the institution as it does about life inside.
Theatre and Life
• Metaphor for the real world torn apart by the
chaos of war. It implies that theatre not only
has a political role in the real world, but also
that it’s potentially as powerful as a
moratorium in voicing an opposition to war.
• The merging of real and illusory worlds thus
draws strong parallels between art and life,
highlighting the importance of art in our lives
‘Cosi Fan Tutte’ – the Opera
• The Play within the play – Cosi Fan Tutte
This creates ironies – juxtaposition of
moral/immoral behaviours, sanity and insanity
Task:
Use the introductory notes in your text,
‘Frankenstein’s Mozart: The making of Cosi’ and
‘Trial by Madmen’, to develop your
understanding of the play.
Use the handout to take notes. Due next lesson.
Things to consider when studying a play
Brainstorm!
1. What creates meaning for us when we see a stage
performance?
Obviously reading and watching a play are very different.
2. How do we respond when we read the script,
compared to when we watch it being acted out?
3. What are the positives and negatives of the stage?
4. How is it different to the form of film?
Some theatre devices that create
meaning…
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Stage directions and performance aspects
Props and sets
Costumes and characters’ physical appearances
Stage positions and movement
Dialogue
Lighting
Sound effects
Characterisation
Narrative structure
As we read the play, consider how these devices help to
create meaning.
Act 1 Scene 1 - Characters
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Lucy
Nick
Lewis
Roy
Justin
Doug
Cherry
Julie
Ruth
Zac
‘Cosi’
Act 1 Scene 1
Aspects to consider
Learning Objective:
To understand how meaning is created in
Act 1, Scene 1
You will need to discuss the following discussion
points in groups and take notes.
Leave a space under each of your answers to add to
your notes later
What does the theatre represent?
• How is light and darkness used?
• What does the darkness symbolise?
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How are the characters introduced?
How do they interact with each other?
What do they represent in this Act?
What is revealed about them?
Characters
• The opening scene is very practical: it introduces us to
Lewis and his role in the play; to each of the patients, and
to Mozart’s opera. (This is almost a character in itself!)
• We see how these characters relate to the opera, and what
these relationships represent about each character.
• Lucy and Nick represent Lewis’ knowledge and experience
from the outside world
• Lewis is the central character – but is so lacking in
confidence that Lucy initially takes control
Theatre
• It is a physical setting for the play and also a
symbolic space for the narrative to inhabit.
• It is a burnt out theatre – as mentioned in
your introductory notes
Darkness
• The darkness represents the nature of the theatre and of
performance: until a theatrical work has been rehearsed
and put together, it is nothing but an idea and there is no
light or sound.
• At this moment of the play, all that exists is possibility. So
far we are at the beginning and there is not magic.
• The darkness also represent Lewis’ lack of knowledge,
preparedness and inspiration – he is ‘in the dark’ about
what to expect from the patients and from his role.
• The stage direction ‘a chink of daylight enters’, is perhaps
symbolic of Lewis bringing with him a glimmer of the
outside world into the institution
Reading Journal
Task:
Imagine you are a theatre reviewer. What would
you say about the opening scene of the play?
Try to comment on:
Characterisation – how were the characters
introduced and presented?
Setting – what does it symbolise?
Key ideas – what were the key issues?
Language – why was it used?
Act 1 Scene 1
In Act 1 scene 1 Nowra introduced key ideas of
mental illness, institutions, social workers, love and
fidelity and the importance of the Arts, war, reality
and illusion (a lot for one scene!!)
TASK: You are going to write a detailed paragraph
on 1 of these key idea
You need to write about HOW the key idea is
conveyed. How do we know what Nowra’s opinions
are about this key idea?
In your paragraph include discussion of the theatrical
techniques we have discussed, and how they develop
meaning
• Characterisation: how characters behave, interact,
dialogue, appearance (Consider stage directions!)
• Setting: what it symbolises in relation to the key idea
• Language: what impact does the language have? How
does it help create meaning?
• Tone: what is the mood of the opening scene? How
does this develop the key idea?
To write this paragraph, you need to ‘jump in’! No introduction – just a
paragraph. Choose your focus idea and start writing about how it is
developed.
Eg. In Act one Scene one of Louis Nowra’s play ‘Cosi’, the issue of
mental illness is quickly introduced. Nowra relies on his own context to
develop his central character ‘Lewis’, who is cast into a ‘burnt out’ and
‘pitch black’ theatre. This darkness symbolises…….
Nowra emphasises the stigma placed on the mentally ill through Nick’s
offhand comment that mad actors are bad enough, but madmen…’
The negative attitude towards those with a mental illness is further
conveyed by Justin and his use of the negative connotation of the word
queasy. …….
Nowra uses black humour, especially through the characterisation of
Doug, to provide relief from the seriousness of the issue. Doug’s
offhanded comment that when you want a lobotomy you just can’t get
it, allows the audience to relate to the characters through their
humour.
The play is naturalistic in style. Doug’s colloquialisms of poofter and
dunny engage the audience as it is Australian and contemporary.
Description of Setting pg. 1
A burnt out theatre. It is day outside but pitch
black inside the theatre. A heavy door opens, a
chink of daylight enters, as do three people: Lewis,
Lucy and his friend.
Comment on Nowra’s choice of setting. What
does it represent? Consider the idea of:
• the darkened, destroyed theatre
• use of light
• tone
KEY VOCAB THAT YOU NEED TO INCLUDE
Context
Views and values
Beliefs
Represents
Irony
Key ideas
Tone
Narrative structure
Symbolic
What is wrong with this paragraph about the setting?
The opening setting is of a theatre; in a theatre. This
shows that the theatre is a stage for society and the
world. Louis shows there isn’t any hope because it is
dark, but maybe some hope will come because there
is a chink of light.
SAMPLE RESPONSE TO THE SETTING
Use
adjectives
to
describe
his views
Look for
contrasts
Louis Nowra’s choice of the opening setting Where
does it
in his play ‘Cosi’ introduces his cynical
come in
views on key social issues of the 1960s and the text?
modern society. The ironic use of the ‘burnt
out theatre’ that is ‘pitch black’ is a
Comment
on tone.
metaphor of the world as a stage,
Describe it.
conveying a bleak tone of moral
destruction and hopelessness in regards to
both war and the mentally ill. This tone is
contrasted however, as it is revealed that ‘a What is being
chink of daylight enters’, symbolising the
symbolised?
hope and possibilities that Lewis may bring
to the patients, and revealing a sense of
change regarding perceptions of Australia’s
involvement in war.
Opening line: author’s name, title, context,
significance of where it falls in text.
Sentence Starters…
• The ‘burnt out theatre’ is symbolic of ……
• Contrasting the ‘day outside’ and ‘pitch black inside’
represents…(what is implied about mental illness
and war?)
• Nowr’s view of society’s perception of war is evident
through…
• The tone alters as a ‘chink of daylight enters’,
revealing that…