The Double Face of Humanity: Two or Three Things about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Personal Writing 26 March 2011.

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• 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

• One among several narratives about monsters/strange creatures/unusual human issues in the 19th century

3. The 1920 film adaptation• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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”