Antigone...What a sad play

Antigone – looking at the spelling puzzled me of it pronunciation. Most of us pronounced it wrongly till corrected by Dr. Edwin. Actually, we were asked to read the Antigone written by Sophocles after our last semester final examination. My classmate had e-mail me the play but I kept delaying to read it due to the holiday fever.

I only start reading on the last week of holiday and find it hard to understand due to the classic language used. So, I stop reading and downloaded the synopsis of Antigone. I found the play is a sad and tragic story because of the event happened to the heroin and her family. Reading the synopsis is much easier to understand compared to the play but to get the real feeling I must read the play and waited for a version copy given by our lecturer.

Once we got the copy, I read it in one evening and I realized that I can understand the flow of the story. Although there are weird words and difficult to understand, I kept on reading till half of the story.

During the lecturer hour, Dr. Edwin has discussed about the play for an hour because he need to go for outstation. He drew my attention on the element of fate in the play. The main character – Antigone believed in fate and because of that, she wanted to bury his brother Polyneices although she knew the king Creon, her uncle - forbid it. She said she done it according to Zeus’s law that every dead body should have proper burial rather than leave it in disgraced. She was caught and sentenced to death but she did not regret because she has fulfil her responsibility to the God and as a sister towards a brother.

In addition, the phrase ‘fate’ is repeatedly used in the lines and build up my understanding the importance of if in the play and gives impact to Antigone’s act. As for Creon, he refused to cancel the punishment on Antigone because he did not believe in fate consequences the death of his own son and his wife. It’s too late for him and he has to run his life due to the curse by their Gods.

Fate or destiny is to be believed by everybody for the reason that our life is being control by the God although one admits that he does not believe in God. As for me, I believe the Almighty is controlling my life therefore if something went wrong it is because of my act has conflicting His order. I believed Antigone realized God’s law is more powerful that human’s and as a result, she breaks Creon's rules and at the end God helped her in giving back the penalty to Creon.

I’m thinking to use this tragic play for my first assignment. Due to that, I must read the play again and examine the right lines for the assignment. I hope further discussion during the lecture hour with my lecture will give me clear view in analyzing the literary aspects of the play.

Time for a Sketch

We were given a short and simple open text dialogue by Edward Bond Bingo. In pairs, we were to discuss the setting, the characters and their relationship followed by perform it to the class. We have to think what is the setting, how many characters involve and have to act out and imagined the setting is really exist in our mind. A few pairs selected randomly by our lecturer, Dr. Edwin while the rest need to guess the three aspects mentioned earlier. I have the opportunity to watch their hidden talent again and it was really fun.

I then realized this activity can be use in teaching drama in classroom and it carter to all students especially the weaker group. Due to the simplicity of the dialogue, the weaker students will gain their gut to perform the sketch and at the same time practicing English. It is important for teachers to encourage them to learn English by heart and role-play is one of the way to accomplish the objectives.

Moreover, it develops students' thinking skills to guess the relationship between the characters based on their prior knowledge. By using the open text dialogue, students are not restricted to the script and perform the authentic action, just like what my classmates did. Fun and hillarious! At the same time, students will learn how to make correct guessing and prediction.

In addition, there are three levels of help the teachers can give to their students, both the advanced and the weaker. For the advanced students, (those who are accurate) they can have very little or none help script where they can think and produce the sketch precisely whereas for the weaker students, they can be pairs with the advanced students and provide them with some help in the script. This is to encourage and convince them and to gain confidence in practicing the langugage. As a language teacher, it is my duty to help and guide them to improve their knowledge in English........... :)

Items of a Play

“Conventions of Theatre” is a set of agreed and accepted criteria that should have in a play. Divided into four aspects, first, the text is the script written in direct speech in a form of dialogue, conversation or monologue to be dramatized. Second, the stage involved the space for acting, the actors who play a part and the imagined time of the play.
The third aspects, is the stage characters that is the involvement of the actors with varies roles such as the protagonist and antagonist. It can be flat or dynamic; central (pivotal) to the play’s action or supportive; inspired audience identification; and it can be universal and constant.
The treatment of time is another important aspect in a play. The audiences should get clear view of when the play is set; know the development of in the play and the language used whether in prose or verse.
Other conventions are the aside when a character speaks to the audience and the other characters do not supposed to know. The chorus is applied during the Greek time which represents the voice of people in a play. It has a leader and voice out in unity. The disguise is used in the comedy and sometimes in the tragedy play. Songs and dance are usually found in comedy play to lighten up the moment.
All the aspects mentioned above are important to produce a good play. Furthermore, a good play should provoke audiences’ intellect in order to increase their satisfaction in watching the play. In addition, a play must show organization and concerns the human experience.