Hope you are enjoying your holidays! Have you girls heard of the story, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? This short story by Robert Louis Stevenson is one of my most favourite tales of all time and has a shared theme with Shakespeare's Macbeth. For the first blog entry of Term Two, I want you to first of all conduct a short research session of Robert Louis Stevenson's story. You will then need to write and post a short response (150 words min) comparing and contrastingThe Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with Macbeth. In your response be sure to define which theme you think is common in both stories. Spark notes has a good summary of Stevenson's story!
Good start! Much of my scribbles on the paper will not make sense unless you couple the scrawls with the set of notes below.Ask me any questions if you have doubts:
You seem to have covered all of the characters in the play and whilst that is not a negative, you have not analysed their contribution to Eva’s suicide in too much depth.My suggestion would be to focus on only three characters and collate as much information as you possibly can on each one.
Your modern parallels have been chosen well.What you need to focus on however is the connection between the play and the current examples. Think of the play as the main character of your panel discussion-it has to be present at all times and every topic needs to circumnavigate around it.In short, do not forget about the theme of injustice in the latter half of the panel discussion.You may want to look at changing some of your modern day examples.Please find below an outline I have given a few of the other groups.As you read through it, take note of the direct parallels between the injustices in the play (and the early 1900s) and modern day society.
a) Birling and his abuse of power over employees: Multinational corporations abusing the rights of workers to increase profits.An Australian based company would be more suitable for the task at hand.
b) Sheila and her abuse of power over Milward’s employees:Young wealthy teens and the control they have over their communities. Perhaps look at certain celebrities, who have been born into fame and have come to abuse the privilege they have in their society.Who are they affecting as a result of their neglectful behaviour?
c) Gerald and Eric and their abuse of power over Daisy/Eva: Sexual exploitation in the workplace.Men and women who hold positions of power in the workforce and the existence of sexual exploitation over employees who are of a “lesser” rank then themselves.
Okay, so in short, work on providing more depth in your analysis of play and clarify the links between the injustices in the play and those of modern day Australia.
Okay, where to start? Girls, you have a lot of work to do. The draft you handed in was ill-focused, it did not read as one text and it was evident that you all weren’t clear on the group’s mission.So, I’m taking control. You have limited time so this will be your outline:
TOPIC: POWER
a) Birling and his abuse of power over employees: Multinational corporations abusing the rights of workers to increase profits.An Australian based company would be more suitable for the task at hand.
b) Sheila and her abuse of power over Milward’s employees:Young wealthy teens and the control they have over their communities. Perhaps look at certain celebrities, who have been born into fame and have come to abuse the privilege they have in their society.Who are they affecting as a result of their neglectful behaviour?
c) Gerald and Eric and their abuse of power over Daisy/Eva: Sexual exploitation in the workplace.Men and women who hold positions of power in the workforce and the existence of sexual exploitation over employees who are of a “lesser” rank then themselves.
Give yourselves distinct roles, work through lunch hours and meet during the weekend.Don’t forget to ask questions...all of you! (By the end of today's lesson, you need to hand me the time and location of where and when you will meet during school time-Jordy start writing the schedule)
Close to brilliant. Well done! If you have any questions about your feedback...ask!
The analysis of both the play and of current society is extensive. However you are missing one other example of the abuse of social status in the play.Additionally, you need to include two more parallels to modern society.You should be commended on your ability to express the link between modern social cliques and the Birling’s comportment. No other group (so far) has been able to successfully use the modern example as a parallel to the themes of the play. The examples below may provide food for thought:
a) Birling and his abuse of power over employees: Multinational corporations abusing the rights of workers to increase profits.An Australian based company would be more suitable for the task at hand.
b) Sheila and her abuse of power over Milward’s employees:Young wealthy teens and the control they have over their communities. Perhaps look at certain celebrities, who have been born into fame and have come to abuse the privilege they have in their society.Who are they affecting as a result of their neglectful behaviour?
c) Gerald and Eric and their abuse of power over Daisy/Eva: Sexual exploitation in the workplace.Men and women who hold positions of power in the workforce and the existence of sexual exploitation over employees who are of a “lesser” rank then themselves.
2. In your introduction you make mention of the injustice evident in both past and present. Good on you for reading the task sheet carefully.You will need to make sure that you include historical examples in the second half of your panel discussion.You mention segregation, could be a possibility? Ensure the segregation, presumably racial, occurred in Australia.
3. Watch the clip below. It is based on the book “Status Anxiety” by sociologist, Alain De Botton. To make your presentation sound more academic, you may want to quote De Botton at some stage of your panel discussion.
