Class Eight: Fiction Unit; this is the end of our unit, and discusses Fiction as both literature and drama.

1. CLASS EIGHT
Chapter 3, 6 Review
“Lion in Winter” Clip
Genre Discussion: “Dead Man”
Discussion Board

2. Chapter 3-- Review
Chapter 3: Between Cultures
We have been reading non-
fiction, fiction and poetry in
our units; Chapter 3 also
has drama:
“Los Vendidos” a short play
By Luis Valdez
(p 144)

3. Chapter 3-- Review
Drama is similar to fiction, except that it usually is performed on a stage.
Drama has roots extending back as many years as poetry, and is interconnected
with poetry-- drama uses dialogue, monologue and action to get it’s point
across, and the best written ones are described as ‘poetry’.
Watch the
following
clip from
“Lion in
Winter”

4. Chapter 3-- Review
“Lion In Winter” is what is known as a ‘period piece’. Can we describe the
elements of this style of film?
1. Discuss the language: how is it different from other ‘period pieces’?
2. The story is based, somewhat loosely, in history: does this make it more
effective? Why or why not?
3. Based on our clip, is this film compelling (something you might watch on
your own?)

5. Chapter 3-- Review
In his short book On Acting, playwright Arthur Miller made the
following observation:
“We spend more time in our day listening to actors than we do
to so called ‘real people’. We are watching the
news, movies, TV programs, politics, etc. All of which employ
acting techniques.”
Do you agree with his assessment?

6. Chapter 5-- Review
In order to prepare for active viewing of our movie, on p. 286-287 is a list of terms:
Title
Setting
P.
Antag. Conflict Change
Protag
Opening Point of View Concluding Images

7. “Dead Man” & Genres
It’s been said that there are no new plots: only variations on a theme.
This is how character-driven fiction has carved new space in literature, and film.
“Dead Man” is a film that parallels it’s source material (literature), but tells a
story within the confines of the Western genre, using a surrealist text by
Henri Michaux, whose quote begins the movie: “It is preferable not to
travel with a dead man”.

8. “Dead Man”
The “Western” genre has some conventions: what are they?
Setting: Hero:
West (US) Sheriff /
Desert, wild ‘Shootist’ +
forest friends
‘Shootist’ Villain: Thief
wins, moves or Killer(s) /
on…leaves corrupt
friends official
Showdown:
Main st. at
Noon

9. “Dead Man”
Michaux’s Plume, and his travel book Ecuador, closely parallel “Dead Man”:
Plume: “tractable”, naïve, totally impervious with an absurd knack for walking into
compromising situations, (Suarez 106).
Ecuador: …Set in an uncertain geography, where trajectories are hard to ascertain.
…The narrator complains of having been born w/ a small hole in his chest, where there
is “hatred, terror, and helplessness”, (Suarez 109).
“One begins to die when one no longer makes sense as a social being,” (Suarez 111).
Blake is … “both already dead…and still dying… dead to his former self, which has
been overwritten by other identities, and failing in his search for a role that may keep
him alive by making him somebody again,” (Suarez 113).

10. Discussion Board: Status
Stats: Saturday Class (7995) : 82 posts total / 16 people posted (17 total) for Poetry;
Fiction Stats: 12 posts / 3 people posted (4 total) for videos, and fiction favorites.
Thursday Class (7766): 109 posts total / 18 people posted (19 total) for Poetry;
Fiction Stats: 2 posts / 0 people posted (1 total) for videos, and fiction favorites.
Due by Class 9

11. In Conclusion:

12. See you in Class Nine (Non Fiction
Unit)…