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AP Composition ENGLISH 12 HONORS -- Shakespeare SUMMER READING Mr. Drummond SHAKESPEARE’S MODERN INFLUENCE Dear Senior -- Thanks so much for pursuing English 12 Honors: Shakespeare this coming year. I’m delighted to be teaching a new course and to have you be the first to test-drive the curriculum with me. For our summer reading project, I’ve chosen four works that each draw their title from a Shakespearean play. When you read yours (choose one you haven’t read – see synopses), I’d like you to think about its plot and themes in conjunction with the source material, printed below. One of our opening day questions will be the following: Why did this particular author choose to allude to Shakespeare in his or her title? What significance does it add? How so? 1. The Mousetrap (Agatha Christie, 1952) Summary: The Mousetrap (originally taken from a short story titled Three Blind Mice) is a murder mystery that opened in the West End in London in 1952 and has been running continuously since then. It has by far the longest initial run of any play in history, with its 25,000th performance taking place on 18 November 2012 It is the longest running show (of any type) in the modern era. The play is also known for its twist ending, which the audience is traditionally asked not to reveal after the play ends (wikipedia.com). Source: Hamlet. Madam, how like you this play? Queen. The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Hamlet. Oh, but she’ll keep her word. King. Have you not heard the argument? Is there no offence in it? Hamlet. No, no, they do but jest – poison in jest. No offence in the world. King. What do you call the play? Hamlet. The Mousetrap. In Hamlet, Hamlet puts on a play to “catch the conscience of the King” – to see if his uncle Claudius is guilty of Hamlet’s father’s murder. When the King asks him about the play’s title, Hamlet calls it ‘The Mousetrap’, suggesting that the King is the mouse to be caught by its reenactment of the King’s murder. When Claudius sees the scene performed in front of him, Hamlet hopes his guilt will stand revealed. 2. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley, 1931) Summary: Brave New World is a novel written in 1931 by Aldous Huxley. Set in a dystopic London of AD 2540 (632 A.F. – "After Ford" – in the book), the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and psychological manipulation that combine to change society profoundly. In 1999, the Modern Library ranked Brave New World fifth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th Century (wikipedia.com). Source: Miranda. O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in it! In The Tempest, Prospero’s ingenuous daughter Miranda discovers all kinds of “new” people at the end of the play and expresses her wonder at the sight of them. In the speech, she emphasizes the “wonder” of “beauteous mankind” with enthusiasm. 3. Into Thin Air (Jon Krakauer, 1999) Summary: A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more—including Krakauer's—in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster at the top of the world (barnesandnoble.com). Source: Prospero. You do look, my son, in a moved sort, As if you were dismay'd: be cheerful, sir. Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and our little life Is rounded with a sleep. In this monologue from The Tempest, the elderly wizard Prospero assures his son-in-law Ferdinand that a “show” Prospero has just put on were performed by spirit “actors”, not real people. He goes on to tell him that all of the wonders of “this vision” are “insubstantial” and shall fade with time – like all things on earth. 4. Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury, 1962) Summary: A masterpiece of modern Gothic literature, Something Wicked This Way Comes is the memorable story of two boys, James Nightshade and William Halloway, and the evil that grips their small Midwestern town with the arrival of a “dark carnival” one Autumn midnight. How these two innocents, both age 13, save the souls of the town (as well as their own), makes for a compelling read. Source: Second Witch. By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. [Knocking.] The passage above comes from Act 4, scene 1 of Macbeth, in which the witches predict the entrance of the usurper Macbeth to their “blasted heath”. The “knocking” here mirrors the play’s famous Porter scene in which the dark and macabre world of the castle is interrupted by the outside forces of law and order. (Note: The first line of this couplet, “By the pricking of my thumbs”, is the title of another novel, a famous Agatha Christie mystery.) .
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