Translations - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Translations

An IntroductionSlide2

A lesson in Amharic…..

How are you (m/f)?

Indemin

neh

/nesh?

Fine

Dehna

1 And

2

Hoolet

3

Sost

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amharic_languageSlide3

Opening Discussion Points

Why

is language important?

How is language linked to

identity, culture, heritage, power and

equality?

Is it important to teach Maori in schools? Why? Why not?

Which

civilisations have lost their language?

What

impact has this had on these civilisations?

What factors are threatening these less spoken languages?Slide4

The Irish Language

www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_07-ApFV0w&feature=related

Donegal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfJk1f0FS5M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGMkVae3N0U&feature=relatedSlide5

Historical and Contextual Research

Research

and feedback on:

Hedge

schools and National Schools

The Irish Language and

Gaeltacht

English authority in Ireland and Penal

laws

(1704 onwards)

Religion in Ireland (Catholics and Protestants and the difference)

Key events in Ireland from 1770s to

1833 (including Daniel O’Connell)

Ordinance Survey (1824-41)

and The Great Famine (1841-49)

The struggle for independence and the Anglo-Irish Treaty (1870s-1921)

The ‘troubles’ in Northern Ireland

in 1950 to

1980s

Brian

Friel

– early life, political beliefs, related work e.g. ‘Making History’Slide6

Main features of a play

:

Direct

speech

Lack of narrative

Stage directions

Characters

Themes

Language devices

Structure

Setting

Dramatic devices: symbolism; dramatic irony; different types of conflict: internal, between individuals, between societies, between countries; dramatic contrast; music; lighting; imagery; foreshadowingSlide7

Key Themes

Language, Communication and Translation

Education

Love

Identity

Community

Family

Oppression by the English

Influence of the Greeks – language, mythology and dramaSlide8

What if we ALL spoke English? Would this be the solution to miscommunication and cultural misunderstanding?

Why or why not

?

GENRE:

Why does

Friel

choose this genre? Consider the features of a play – lack of description / narrative, inclusion of stage directions and speech.Slide9

CONTEXT: Opening of Play

Annotate the opening stage directions.

How

effectively does

Friel

convey a

sense of place

using the

stage settings

for Act 1

? What do you notice about the historical and social settings? What context is given to audiences?

What is a ‘

hedge-school

’? Why was a hedge-school illegal? How coul

d education undermine political intentions?Slide10

Stage directions in Act 1

“..disused barn or hay-shed or byre’. What is the function of the three part list (triple sting)here?

The English thought of the Irish as animals. Also, the barn is ‘disused’ showing the decline in agriculture. The students at this school are from a farming background, so education is both voluntary and illegal

.

“..wooden posts and chains” are used to tether animals.

Link with the way the English tether the Irish by forcing them to be educated in the new schools where lessons will be taught in English. Irish schools are forced underground, along with their language and agriculture

.

“..a wooden stairway without a banister..” Look at the way the schoolmaster and his son live with the animals, reinforcing the link with the British stereotype of the Irish being like animals

.

The lack of a banister is dangerous. This may lead to a discussion of Manus’s lameness and Hugh’s drinking. Look at these symbolically.

Friel

has handicapped his Irish educators physically and mentally. Why?

“..lobster pots..” Discuss the

significane

of these and their association with catching fish.

Friel

tells the audience of the proximity of water which may be linked with the Donnelly twins, who are ‘fish’ the English would like to catch!Slide11

Stage directions in Act 1

“..a pail of water and a soiled towel..”

Tell the audience that students at this hedge school come straight from the fields and need to wash before their lessons

.

There is no evidence of a “woman’s hand” in the school.

Friel

is emphasising the sterility of Manus and Hugh’s lives as well as the lack of agricultural productivity. He uses detail to let the audience know the Irish are doomed to failure. Their future is English.

Friel

is Irish and has chosen the Irish perspective for his play.

The audience see the action from the setting of the hedge school. Discuss the significance of this perspective.

The first characters who are introduced to the audience are Sarah and Manus

.

Discuss his lameness and her lack of speech. Why does

Friel

introduce these two young, disabled characters first? What does it say about Ireland’s future? What significance is there in having a dumb character? What is

Friel

telling his audience about the power of speech?Slide12

Stage directions in Act 1

Friel

places Manus physically below Sarah who is ‘sitting on a low stool’.

Why does he do this?

What is

Friel’s

message about identity when he describes Sarah who “..could be any age from seventeen to thirty-five”.

Why does Sarah seem so unconcerned about her appearance?

Jimmy Jack Cassie is introduced next

.

His study of ‘dead’ languages needs to be discussed, as well as his age, the ironic reference to him as the ‘Infant Prodigy’ and the fact that he is unmarried

.

Organise your notes under the main themes of the play which

Friel

introduces via stage direction:

place, character description, language, education, genre

.

Answer the following essay question:

How effectively does

Friel

convey a sense of place using the stage settings for Act 1?