Assignment: Analysis of Edson's Wit

My students have just had a review of various kinds of formal features one can identify in literary texts, in stage plays, and in films. We have also viewed the film, Wit (the adaptation of Margaret Edson's play). It is time to practice doing more prewriting, including the identification of formal elements, and the development of some tentative interpretive claims (working thesis statements).

This post will be in three parts: 1) a list of formal features; 2) an exploratory paragraph or two; and 3) a set of three working thesis statements. The third of these will be a revision of your post that you can only do after getting feedback from others. Therefore, there will be two deadlines: for the initial post, and the revision. Complete the initial post by Friday 2/12/16 at 5pm. Post your revision by 1pm on Tuesday, 2/16. We will be drawing upon these posts for an in-class activity.

Follow this procedure:

1. Create a list of formal features.
   Based on your notes from reading the written play and watching the film adaptation of Wit, create a numbered list of 10 formal elements you identified. These must include 1) formal textual elements; 2) elements of dramatic form (the performance of a play); and 3) elements of film.
2. Write an exploratory paragraph or two
   Consider this brainstorming. Do not write an essay in length or in form: keep this part under 300 words. Ideas do not have to be tightly coherent. Explore how you could combine some of these observations of form into potential themes for your paper (but stop short of making claims).
3. Post your blog post so that others can respond to it. 
4. Read and respond to three other students' posts.
   Specifically, suggest possible claims that they could make based on their list and exploratory thoughts. Name the type of claim you suggest ("I think you could turn this into a definition claim if you..." -- that sort of thing)
5. Return to your post, and append to it a third section, "Working Thesis Statements." You can only do this after you have received feedback from other students (and looked over the formal elements that others have written up). Compose three working thesis statements using the form we've already learned. Repost.