Not a Posting Prompt--just a Guide for reading Hornby

OK, folks--it's the last non-play reading of the semester: a selection from Richard Hornby's Script into Performance. Like a lot of academic writing, it's not meant for casual encounters. You aren't supposed to read it in the same way you'd read a novel or a blog post. You may find you need to take notes. You may need to re-read parts of the text to get them. You may even want to mark passages that just seem nonsensical to you. Don't worry if there are sections you don't get. Skip those and move on. You'll get more than you think.

As with the Fuchs--put your own "what do I, personally, think of this writer?" on pause. It's most important to me, initially at least, that you get a solid grasp on Hornby's process of analysis. You can decide for yourself if you like it/him or not later.

In what follows, then, I'm going to give you some questions that can hopefully guide you as you read the Hornby chapters. You do not need to answer these questions in a post or paper or anything (though you are always welcome to post about it if you'd like). You should, however, keep track of the answers to them as you read. The reading quiz on Hornby we'll take on Wednesday deals with these issues.

Here's what to keep in mind while reading the text.

• In the first chapter I'm having you read, Richard Hornby (the author) takes Aristotle's Poetics as his starting point. Specifically, he writes about Aristotle's six elements of tragedy. You remember those, right?
• Hornby says these six elements are great, but he says Aristotle's method is incomplete. How so?
• Hornby then offers six dramatic elements of his own. These six are essential for you to know. Mark them well, take notes on them, get a grasp on what he means by each of them. They're the core of the approach to script analysis we're using through the rest of the semester. 
• Actually, I would suggest that you think of Hornby's six elements as a question you ask about play scripts. For example, his element sequence essentially asks the question, "What effect does the playwright's ordering of events in the plot have?" For yourself, I recommend you come up with a question 
• In what way are Hornby's six elements different than Aristotle's?

In the next Hornby chapter, he goes into his process for analyzing plays using his six elements. (Again, we're still in the guide-for-reading; you don't need to write out the answers to these on a blog or anything.)

• Hornby starts by talking about his process as a heuristic. What does he mean?
• Hornby argues that criticism (analysis) is a creative process. How is it creative?
• What are the steps in his "meta-method" of analysis?
• Suppose you encounter a detail or element of the play script that doesn't seem to fit. What does Hornby say you should do with such an element?
• What does Hornby mean by a "unifying principle"? 
• At what point should you (the analyst) come up with a unifying principle for a text?
• What should you do after you come up with a unifying principle for a text?

 OK. That's the guide.

I'll create a Prompt for a posting on Hornby for you to do on Friday on your own.

For now, just come to class with the Hornby text and with any notes you take on this text.

Best,

JF