LECTURE 10 ANN IS WHERE WE BEGIN SELF - INTEREST AND COL � TERAL DAMAGE
TODAY’S MENU RE � TIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTHER AND ANN PASSAGE - BASED QUESTION (84-86)
OBJECTIVES 1. METHODS & CONCERNS 2. CROSS - REFERENCES 3. DRAMATIC PURPOSE FLOW EXPOSITION - WATCH - WORK
ANN NOT SO SIMPLE SYMBOLIC CHARACTER 7th CJC LITERARY EVENING
UNDERSTANDING ANN IDEAS AND MOTHER
IDEA ONE ‘ � RRY’S GIRL’ GIRL - NEXT - DOOR ROMANTIC INTEREST ‘how long I’ve been waiting to kiss you’ (37) ! ‘nice.. legs’, ‘looks very intelligent’ (25) ‘prettiest girl you ever saw’ (24) ANN AS ‘MINOR CHARACTER’
IDEA ONE SELF - INTEREST ‘TRIGGERS’ THE TRAGIC ENDING ‘I came to get married’ (86) ! ‘I didn’t bring this to hurt you’ (86) ANN AS INDEPENDENT ‘VILLAIN’
IDEA TWO ANN AS ‘MOTHER’ Mirrors Mother’s imperiousness ! and ‘monstrous’ manipulation LINKING MOTHER AND ANN
IDEA THREE MALEVOLENT? DESTRUCTIVE? We see Mother as an anguished ! victim of Ann’s selfish actions CRITIQUE OF THE AMERICAN DREAM
IDEA FOUR REPARATION? REDEMPTION? Ann seems to seek forgiveness / empathy. ! Her letter also leads Keller’s self-recognition. A REMINDER TO BE ‘BETTER’ AND ‘RESPONSIBLE’
‘P � CE’ THE ‘HERE’ DRAMATIC STRUCTURE THEN FIND ‘ELSEWHERE’
IDENTIFY ‘ELSEWHERE’ BASED ON SAME Character Relationship SCENE PAGES CHARACTERS 1.4 24-35 Keller- Mother-Ann -Chris 2.1 44-46 Mother -Chris- Ann 3.1* 84-86 Mother-Ann There is limited interaction between Mother and Ann after the given passage.
IDENTIFY ‘ELSEWHERE’ BASED ON Dramatic Structure SCENE PAGES DESCRIPTION 3.1 81-84 Joe’s hamartia: ‘Nothin' is bigger’ 3.1* 84-86 Revelation: Ann returns with letter. 3.2 86-88 Falling action : Chris’s anagnorisis. 3.2 89-91 Catastrophe : Keller commits suicide. Always look for ‘before’ and ‘after’. The ending is generally useful.
IDENTIFY ‘ELSEWHERE’ BASED ON Similar Concerns SCENE PAGES CONCERNS 1.3 18-21 Mother’s dream ‘…got to believe’ 1.5 35-38 Chris & Ann discuss… future 3.1* 84-86 Truth and American dream Since we are at the END of the play, a link to the ‘START’ allows us mark out a clearer progression or change.
‘P � CE’ THE ‘HERE’ LINKS TO ‘ELSEWHERE’ IN THE P � Y PAIR + INDIVIDUAL WORK
IDENTIFY AN EARLIER EPISODE ON THE MOTHER - ANN RE � TIONSHIP *Mother’s assertiveness and insistence carries forward from her interaction with Ann in Act One . In Show the first half of this passage, the CONTINUITY in the audience hears Mother speak in relationship the same demanding tone, excla- mations and commit the same forceful actions.
COMPARE ‘HERE’ A DIFFERENT ANN WITH ‘EARLIER’
ANN ( delicately ). You mean am I still waiting for him? ( kindly ). But that's what you meant, isn't it? Isn't it ridiculous? You don't really imagine he’s—? (28)
IDENTIFY AN EARLIER EPISODE ON THE MOTHER - ANN RE � TIONSHIP *Conversely, the audience witnesses… Show ! CHANGE Discuss this with a friend. How is the in the effect of Ann’s stage directions and relationship language on page 28 different from that in the passage?
IDENTIFY AN EARLIER EPISODE ON THE MOTHER - ANN RE � TIONSHIP *Conversely, the audience witnesses… a distinct shift from Show Ann’s ‘delicate’, ‘kind’ girl-next-door CHANGE demeanour in Act One , where her in the questions displayed greater relationship empathy or tolerance towards Kate Keller than in Act Three .
ANN ( resolutely ). No, Kate. Ann stands there in silence, then turns trembling, going upstage. No, Kate. (29)
IDENTIFY AN EARLIER EPISODE ON THE MOTHER - ANN RE � TIONSHIP *The revelation in this passage Show how the accounts for Ann’s ‘resolute’ passage rejection of Mother’s delusion in Act EXPLAINS One : Ann knows about Larry’s death earlier action. prior to the events of the play.
ANN ( to Mother ). You know what he’s got to do! Tell him! (88) Ann goes quickly to Mother, takes letter.. and starts for Chris. Mother instantly rushes to intercept her (89).
CONSIDER THE EPISODE DIRECTLY BEFORE OR AFTER THE PASSAGE *The high tension built up within this passage escalates into the next scene , where Ann acts even more Show how aggressively in her self-centred dramatic mood SHIFTS pursuit. Mother can only react in the play. ‘ desperately ’ and is ‘ pleading from her whole soul’ as Chris reads the letter.
LINK ‘HERE’ A FAMILY TRAGEDY TO THE ENDING
CONSIDER THE ENDING IN RE � TION TO THE PASSAGE * Ann’s decision to ‘prove’ Larry’s death (84, 88) moves the play towards its Show how the tragic conclusion. The letter is passed passage from Mother to Chris (89) , who finally LEADS TO reads it aloud to Keller (90) . This catastrophe. belated discovery of the ‘truth’ — Larry Explain how kills himself because he believes his one scene father responsible for the deaths of causes twenty one men — pushes Keller to another . take his own life in the final scene (91) . The SCENE-BY-SCENE GUIDE on p3 should come in handy.
MOTHER ( softly, almost moaning ). Joe... Joe... Joe... Joe… ! CHRIS ( almost crying ). Mother, I didn't mean to — As she reaches porch steps she begins sobbing (91).
CONSIDER THE ENDING IN RE � TION TO THE PASSAGE *Mother’s inarticulate ‘moaning’ Show how the here arguably foreshadows the passage ‘moaning’ and ‘sobbing’ at the end FORE- SHADOWS of the play , where she and Chris are the catas- left on stage to mourn Keller’s trophe tragic suicide.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN NIGHTMARE TWO CONCERNS IN THE PASSAGE
CHRIS Annie, we're going to live now! I'm going to make you so happy. […] I want you now, Annie (37-38).
CONSIDER OTHER PARTS SHOWING THE SAME CONCERN *The chase for the American Dream is at Show how the its most relentless and uncaring in this passage passage . While Chris and other DEVELOPS characters desire better, richer and fuller the concern of lives, their intentions are quite innocent . the American Ann’s pursuit of happiness in the Dream and passage evidently ‘hurt(s)’ Kate and weigh its comes at unimaginable cost to the importance. Keller family.
MOTHER Never, never in this world [are you marrying Ann]! He's coming back, and everybody has got to wait. Your brother’s alive, darling, because if he’s dead, your father killed him (75).
CONSIDER OTHER PARTS SHOWING THE SAME CONCERN *Mother’s dogged denial of Larry’s Show how the death… passage ! DEVELOPS Individually, think about what happens the concern of to Mother’s constructed reality. denial and How does the passage affect her earlier weigh its attempts at denying Larry is dead? importance. No answers for this box!
PBQ OUTLINE
INTRODUCTION 1. In this passage, the truth of Larry’s whereabouts intrudes into Mother and Keller’s discussion through the re-appearance of Ann on stage. Armed with the letter, Ann proceeds to impose her self- interest upon Mother’s ‘belief’ that Larry is alive; 2. these moments of manipulation and retaliation result in a scene of increasing tension and physical aggression between the two characters. 1. BEFORE + HERE + MAIN IDEAS 2. ANALYSE OVERALL EFFECTS
INTRODUCTION 1. The purpose of the passage arguably lies in the closing stages of the extract, where Mother’s mournful ‘moaning’ hints at the disastrous consequences of Ann’s self-interest. 2. The audience begins to bear the weight of the play’s message: individual desires, pursued persistently, are detrimental to the interests of the community. 1. ‘DRAMATIC’ PURPOSE 2. ‘THEMATIC’ PURPOSE
MATCH METHOD TO EFFECT
TS 1 In this passage, Ann overturns the audience’s previous impression of her as a ‘good girl’ who speaks ‘delicately’ and ‘kindly’ to Mother. The Ann Deever we see re-entering the stage exerts dominance over Mother as she asserts what she wants — to start a new ‘life’ with Chris ‘away’ from the Keller household. ANALYSIS MUST SHOW ‘ASSERTIVENESS’ AND ‘DOMINANCE’
TS 1 ACCUSATIONS CONFRONTATIONAL DIRECTIVES BOLDNESS / AUDACITY DEC � RATIVES FIRMNESS / INTRANSIGENCE LET’S FOCUS ON ANN + METHODS , NOT ‘ANN SAID, MOTHER SAID’
ANN P � YS VICTIM
TS 4 Whilst Ann emerges the more dominant and ‘triumphant’ character, she too plays the role of victim — one might even claim that she ‘competes’ with Mother in this respect. Her pleas for Mother’s sympathy (and perhaps the audience’s too) come as she begins to recognise the damage she has caused, and possibly will cause in the next scene. WE WILL SUBSTANTIATE THREE PARTS WITH DIFFERENT ‘METHODS’
METHODS FOR TS 4 SENTENCE STRUCTURE TENSE AND ACTIVE (‘I’) / PASSIVE (‘YOU’ + ‘ME’) VOICE SPEECH RHYTHM PAUSES AND SENTENCE LENGTH REPETITION + DICTION WHICH WORDS SHOW ANN PLEADING WITH MOTHER? STAGE DIRECTIONS HOW DO WE KNOW HOW ANN ‘FEELS’? YOU HAVE TO SELECT THE APPROPRIATE METHOD, YES!
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