1/1/2015

Introduction to The Shoe-Horn SonataHSC Standard English - Module A: Distinctively Visual

Kylie HetheringtonNOWRA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

Distinctively VisualThe Shoe Horn Sonata

The play’s origins‘I do not have the power to build a memorial so I wrote a play instead.’ John Misto

The Australian Government has yet to build a memorial to the forty-one Australian army nurses who suffered during World War II. A few years before writing The Shoe-Horn Sonata, John Misto read Betty Jeffrey’s book White Coolies. Betty had been a member of the Australian Army Nursing Service and she had survived captivity as a prisoner-of-war in Sumatra and Malaya, along with twenty-three of her colleagues. War is primarily a masculine domain and wartime stories tend to focus on men and masculine exploits. Betty’s stories of the nurses’ war experiences obsessed Misto. He carried out extensive research, including interviewing many Australian women who had endured and survived prisoner-of-war camps in South-East Asia. The play The Shoe-Horn Sonata pays tribute to these women who suffered from decisions made by the British, from the deeds of Japanese soldiers and from the inaction of successive Australian governments to acknowledge their contribution or situation.

Misto’s play is inspired by the famous account of Australian Army Nursing experiences in the diary of Betty Jeffrey (of the Australian Army Nursing Service), published as White Coolies in 1954 (reprinted l999, Angus and Robertson.)

Reading this book as a teenager, Misto said he could not forget it and many years later, set about researching his play by interviewing many of the survivors. From these many accounts, the characters of Bridie and Sheila were constructed and the events they describe occurring between l942 and l995. Every incident they depict is factual and the symbol of the play, the shoe-horn was real.

“One group of twenty two Nurses reached the north west of Banka Island and surrender to the Japanese. On the 16 February, they were ordered into the sea and machine gunned and bayoneted to death by Japanese soldiers. Only one nurse survived, Sister Vivien Bullwinkle.”

From: “The Massacre of Parit Sulong” by Gilbert Mant referring to the sinking of Vyner Brooke.

“One purpose of this play is to show the injustices done to the memory of the nurses, and of the thousands of other women and children who suffered

with them.” John Misto: Author’s Note.This forgotten epoch of Australian history both bewildered and frustrated Misto and drove him to write this important play, the subject of which details the horrific conditions of the Women’s POW camps, five decades of Governmental silence about the Women’s incarceration, the cruelty of the Japanese, the unresponsiveness and treachery of the women by the Allied Forces, the insufficient compensation for the women in the years following, the violation of the international rules of war, the bombing of ships jam-packed with women and children, the shooting of Australian nurses and soldiers, now perceived as a ‘war crime’. Finally, the play exists as a disturbing reminder of the heartlessness of war as evidenced by the fact that the

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captors withheld essential medical supplies provided by the Red Cross, leaving them to lie fallow outside camp boundaries when women and children lay expiring inside, resulting in malnutrition, chronic illness and death.

This play poses questions about the way we construct and communicate our history. While it focuses on the stories of the two fictional women, one British and one Australian, who were evacuated from Singapore as the Empire disintegrated, it challenges us to look beyond the pain of the two women characters at the wider social and political context that has allowed this situation to pass unacknowledged.

Origin Activities1. Why did John Misto write this play? What do you think “plays tribute”

means? (authorial context)2. What was Misto’s purpose in writing the play?3. What research did John Misto do in writing this play? (literary context)4. What was the historical context of the events in the play?

Background to the playIn 1941 Singapore and Malaya were still under British control as part of the British Empire. Singapore had been considered ‘an impregnable fortress’, although the British had been warned since 1938 that the Japanese were planning a major invasion. The British had ignored the warning. By December 1941 the Japanese had invaded, and within seventy days, captured Singapore and Malaya. As the Japanese prepared to take Singapore, the British Government refused to evacuate British nationals, arguing that it would be ‘bad for morale’. Empty ships were allowed to leave Singapore Harbour and thus when the Japanese bombed the island, thousands of people died.

On 13 February 1942 the British Government finally conceded to the evacuation of civilians. Thirty-three ships heavily overloaded with thousands of women and children immediately ran into fierce Japanese naval bombardment and in a single night huge numbers of these refugee women and children were slaughtered. Those who managed to survive were taken prisoner.

According to Australian army regulations nurses are not permitted at the front line; however Australian nurses found themselves right in the path of the Japanese invasions nursing the young Australian boys who had enlisted to carry out their patriotic duty. Australian nurses kept hospitals running in the middle of the battlefields.

The two on-stage characters in The Shoe- Horn Sonata are a British civilian and Australian Army nurse, both evacuated from Singapore. The memories of past action that are recalled by these two characters focus on their experiences during the evacuation from Singapore and their incarceration as prisoners-of-war.

Activities: Historical Background to the Play1. What is the historical context of this play?2. What is the historical event this play is based on?3. How were Australian nurses regarded during World War II?4. What do you think this tells about how women were regarded at the time?

(social context)

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Synopsis of the PlayThe play is a two-acter and is effectively a two-hander or double-hander. The audience does hear the voice of the third character—Rick, the television interviewer—but he is never seen on stage. A number of off-stage characters are also referred to throughout the play and the images of historical ‘characters’ are projected during the performance establishing the wider world of the

play.

The main action of the play is set in 1995, but we are also projected back in time to the events of the fall of Singapore and the subsequent ‘rescue’ by the Japanese and incarceration in prisoner-of-war camps. The scenes in the present take place in a TV studio, in the motel/hotel rooms in which they are staying during the filming of the documentary about their wartime experiencesand in a neutral space somewhere within the studio. Importantly the scenes also take us to various ‘real’ places during the war, including Singapore and Belalau via the projected visual and sound images.

At one level this is the story about the meeting of two female POW survivors, Bridie Cartwright and Sheila Richards, for the first time since the end of the war fifty years previously. The two women had been evacuated from Singapore and had endured together the pain and suffering of war. The play focuses on the re-establishmentof their relationship. We observe not only their reunion but their reconciliation.

Their story is told in a complex theatrical form that alerts the audience to the fact that this is not a simple narrative. The story unravels as the truths and untruths of the past are revealed. While on the one hand the focus is on the personal truths and lies, these are seen to be part of a much bigger issue: the construction of public accounts of past events. We see the way in which such public accounts obfuscate and conceal, and we see the effects of such obfuscation on individuals—‘keep smiling’.

Act OneThe opening scene, with Bridie demonstrating the deep, subservient bow, the kowtow, demanded of the prisoners by their Japanese guards during tenko, transports the audience into the past action.

Now in the present, Rick poses questions as music and images from the war period appear behind Bridie, establishing the element of the filming of a television documentary as Bridie is asked to arouse the events from fifty years ago. This scene establishes Bridie, and introduces the given circumstances: the recollection and re-living of memories of the years of imprisonment. This section also reveals the grave dangers the prisoners faced; over-crowded ships moving towards an enemy fleet, the fear of rape and the lack of preparedness of the British stronghold in Singapore for the offensive.

In Scene Two we are introduced to Sheila and the major conflict of the play, where Misto sets up some of the issues that will arise between the Australian Bridie and the former English girl Sheila. Sheila’s arrival at the motel from Perth introduces the audience to the fact that the women have been estranged for many decades, as each seeks out basic information about personal details; marriage and children.

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Status and suspense are introduced when Sheila does not reciprocate Bridie’s exclamation of delight “Gee it’s good to see you,” and the audience is left wondering as to why until the end of Act One.

The physical language between the two described on Page 26 indicates underlying tension and yet the scene ends with their re-enactment of an old ritual (The lifting of the suitcase as they used to lift the coffins of the dead: to the cries of Ichi, ni, san---Ya-ta!), demonstrating that their connection lies in their traumatic shared experiences. Act One continues with the shared memories of Bridie and Sheila reflecting those of the audience, through the use of dramatic techniques.

Scene Three: The audience is reminded of how young Sheila was when she was taken prisoner. The voice of a teenage girl sings part of ‘Jerusalem’, the stirring and visionary song with words by English poet William Blake, and the mature Sheila joins in. The song returns later when Bridie and Sheila sing it together.

We also learn in Scene Three that Bridie exhibits a protective manner when they first meet drifting in the sea after being shipwrecked. Her perception is that Sheila is “another stuck-up Pom”, and strikes her with her shoehorn to keep her awake. Sheila’s bias is then revealed, having been taught prejudice towards the Irish by her mother and indeed is the label she plants on Bridie, the Sydney nurse from Chatswood with an Irish surname.

Scene Five: Further differences between the two surface in the description of the “officers’ club” set up by the Japanese. But by the end of this scene they are recalling the choir and the orchestra of women’s voices set up by Miss Dryburgh.

Scene Six sees a more spirited pair in a conga line singing the parodies of well-known songs they’d used to taunt their captors and keep their spirits up before their differing attitudes and tension again emerge as revelations increase about the deteriorating conditions for the prisoners and the unrelenting deaths, particularly in the Belalau camp.

At the end of the Act, Sheila returns the Shoehorn, she claimed she had sold for quinine to save Bridie’s life but in fact she traded sex for medicine with the enemy. Sheila experiences a crushing realization when she extracts from Bridie, the suggestion through silence, that she would not have done the same for her.

“All these years I’ve told myself that you’d have done the same for me. [Calmly] I was wrong, though, wasn’t I?”

Act TwoAct Two opens in the recording studio, as Bridie and Sheila report the appalling conditions in the death camp of Belalau where the warning from Prison guards that no prisoners would survive the war was declared, building suspense as to how this could have been possible for both our characters. Soon it becomes clear that in the years since the war ended, Sheila has led a quiet life as a librarian in Perth and has not been able to sustain a sexual relationship; nor felt able to return to Britain or to face remaining with her family in Singapore. She discloses that she drinks and experiences nightmarish recollections about Lipstick Larry. Bridie however, had been happily married for years to an Australian soldier who had flirted with her at Christmas behind the wire and is now widowed and childless.

Scene Twelve: Bridie’s tells of an event where, when surrounded by a group of Japanese tourists in David Jones Food Hall, she runs away with a tin of shortbread and later pleads guilty in court to shoplifting. “I still lie awake cringing with

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shame,” she tells Sheila. She could not explain the truth to the court or to family and friends. The effect of this event on Sheila surprises Bridie who decides that peace can only be attained if the truth is faced publically.

“There are probably thousands of survivors like us, still trapped in the war, too ashamed to tell anyone.”

Scene Thirteen: It is Bridie who reveals the truth of Sheila’s courageousness and self-sacrifice when she recounts how they were rescued, after which she asks Sheila to clarify her shoplifting arrest. The tensions between the two now slowly dissolve as all confidences have been expressed. The scene ends with the assertion Bridie has been waiting five decades for:

“And I’d do it all over again if I had to....’cause Bridie’s my friend...”

Friendship has been restored, the Shoe-Horn returned to its rightful owner, plans made for a Christmas reunion, and the dance they had promised each other in the camp ensues as The Blue Danube, music of joy and triumph and survival,” plays.

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Activities: Synopsis

Act / Scene Main historical features

Where is this scene set?What other settings does this scene refer to in the dialogue or stage direction?

What is revealed about Bridie and Sheila’s experience of the war?

What is the purpose of this scene?

I, i

I, ii

I, iii

I, iv

I, v

I, vi

I, vii

I, viii

I, ix

I, x

II, xi

II, xii

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II, xiii

Analysis of the BOS Prescriptions for UnitModule A: Experience Through Language – Distinctively VisualThis module requires students to explore the uses of a particular aspect of language. It develops students’ awareness of language and helps them to understand how our perceptions of and relationships with others and the world are shaped in written, spoken and visual language.

Each elective in this module requires study of a prescribed text through a key aspect of language. This provides the basis for the study and use of this aspect of language in other texts, including texts drawn from students’ own experience.

Students examine particular language structures and features used in the prescribed text and in a range of situations that they encounter in their daily lives. They explore, examine and analyse how the conventions of textual forms, language modes and media shape meaning. Composition focuses on experimentation with variations of purpose, audience and form to achieve different effects. These compositions may be realised in a variety of forms and media. (Refer to the English Stage 6 Syllabus, p 30.)

Elective 2: Distinctively Visual In their responding and composing, students explore the ways the images we see and/or visualise in texts are created. Students consider how the forms, features and language of different texts create these images, affect interpretation and shape meaning. Students examine one prescribed text, in addition to other related texts of their own choosing that provide examples of the distinctively visual.

Students will choose one of the following texts as the basis for their further exploration of the elective Distinctively Visual.

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Deconstruction of Syllabus Content1. You need to cut these out and align these suggestions with the syllabus

description for Distinctively Visual. Go through each sentence and you will find each of the following ideas.

2. Once you have completed this, make list of features of the text that you think you will need to cover in this unit.

The ‘Distinctively Visual’ elements we see that are obvious and relate specifically to the form of the text- a play; examine the literal images: photographs used as props; other props used on the stage to differentiate the set of the television studio from the hotel rooms; use of light or darkness on the stage for metaphysical effect and reflection or transition between scenes; facial expressions, body language or actions of the actors; positioning on the stage - centre front or to the side – impacts on how we see the characters or the power they have onstage; other props such as the recurring motif of the shoe-horn and the Red Cross postcard as tangible evidence of the experience

The ‘Distinctively Visual’ elements we must use our imaginations to visualise: the imagined images – what we don’t see but know to exist; verbal flashbacks, descriptive explanations, olfactory and other sentient imagery

How the form of Misto’s text presents the opportunity to explore ‘Distinctively Visual’ elements – dialogue, stage directions, director’s notes; how verbal imagery creates images of the past or present; historical language. How language affects interpretation – impact of the dialogue on the other characters in the cast; close examination of how verbal imagery creates the range of perspectives of the experiences of each woman

How form affects interpretation – drama - play - written versus stage performance – impact of gestures; action on the stage; interaction with props and other characters in the cast; characterisation; costuming; score; lighting; sound effects; symbols; set construction, audience interaction

How form shapes meaning – audience expectations; impact of theatre as a political, social and cultural medium; impact of sets in engaging and providing context for the audience

How language shapes meaning – accessibility of language; simplicity of language; colloquial versus formal language for characterisation; historical references; use of specific verbs, adverbs, adjectives in stage directions; use of dashes and ellipsis to create carefully constructed pauses allowing audience to ‘visualise’ emotional and psychological interaction beyond the ‘visual’ of the stage; how verbal imagery shapes our emotional response to the women and to the experience of prisoners of war and the Japanese in the play’s historical context of captivity during World War II; gendered meanings presented through the juxtaposition of the language and visuals

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You will need to consider the techniques that need to be deconstructed that are explicitly and literally visual as well as deconstructing the language features of the script itself. You should consider how visual metaphors are created by the juxtaposition of photographs and props, characters and staging when combined with the language of the script itself.

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Key Terms in the Study of EnglishThis syllabus uses some terms in specific ways to describe complex processes and concepts. A detailed glossary appears in Section 16 for reference purposes. Key terms used to describe the study of English in the syllabus are outlined below.

Responding is the activity that occurs when students read, listen to, or view texts. It encompasses the personal and intellectual connections a student makes with texts. It also recognises that students and the texts to which they respond reflect social contexts. Responding typically involves:

• reading, listening and viewing that depend on, but go beyond, the decoding of texts

• identifying, comprehending, selecting, articulating, imagining, critically analysing and evaluating.

Composing is the activity that occurs when students produce written, spoken, or visual texts. Composing typically involves:

• the shaping and arrangement of textual elements to explore and express ideas, emotions and values

• the processes of imagining, drafting, appraising, reflecting and refining

• knowledge understanding and use of the language forms, features and structures of texts.

Texts in English Stage 6 are communications of meaning produced in any medium that incorporates language, including sound, print, film, electronic and multimedia. Texts include written, spoken, nonverbal or visual communication of meaning. They may be extended unified works or presented as a series of related pieces.

Context is used in its broadest sense. It refers to the range of personal, social, historical, cultural and workplace conditions in which a text is responded to and composed.

Language modes refers to the modes of listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing and representing*. These modes are often integrated and interdependent activities used in responding to and composing texts in order to shape meaning.

It is important to realise that:

• any combination of the modes may be involved in responding to or composing print, sound, visual or multimedia texts; and

• the refinement of the skills in any one of the modes develops skills in the others. Students need to build on their skills in all language modes.

Representing is the language mode that involves composing images by means of visual or other texts. These images and their meaning are composed using codes and conventions. The term can include activities such as graphically presenting the structure of a novel, making a film, composing a web page, or enacting a dramatic text.

Language forms and features is the term used to refer to the symbolic patterns and conventions that shape meaning in texts. These vary according to the particular mode or medium of production and can include written, spoken, nonverbal or visual communication of meaning.

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Structures of texts is the term used to refer to the relationship of different parts of a text to each other, and to the text as a complex whole.

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Word Bank for Writing About The Shoe-Horn SonataDistinctively visual Purpose Impact on audience Themes / ideas

Distinctive / distinct MemorableImprints on the mindUniqueVividStands outEngages the sensesRich Visually engagingVisually surprisingVisually enticingVisuals augment our understanding and emotional response

to shockto teachto broaden our understandingto illicit and emotional response/ engagementto amuseto build tension / to break the tensionto establish historical/ political contextto tell an untold storyto expose to criticize_____________________________________Sound EffectsTo support the visualsTo build on the imagesTo add to the overall effectTo consolidate the overall ideaTo enhance the imageTo compliment the imageTo supplement other techniques

I felt/ audiences feel helpless sorrow confronted uncomfortable confused pity unsettled

We are reminded that this

is not fiction incredulous ashamed critical

* We commiserate* The moment in the scene “has a silencing effect”

**sympathy / empathy are overdone!!

War brutality dehumanisation post traumatic

stress propaganda patriotism

Music freedom hope unity courage

Friendship sacrifice unity shared experience courage and

conflict

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Suggested Sentence StartersSynonyms for composer can and should be used for each different text type: poet author, write, reporter, cartoonist, artist, novelist, filmmaker, director, producer, scriptwriter, The [author]/ [composer’s name] suggests…

The [poet]/ [composer’s name] provides opportunities…

The [playwright]/ [composer’s name] challenges…

The [speaker]/ [composer’s name] purpose if to …

The [filmmaker]/ [composer’s name] highlights…

The [director]/ [composer’s name] use of [technique]…

The [photographer]/ [composer’s name] presents…

The [designer [composer’s name] explores….

The [artist]/ [composer’s name] has presented…

[Name of composer] uses his/his text to (convey, challenge, inform, educate, challenge, provoke, suggest, impart, communicate, develop, reveal, provide insight, expose, deliberate, construct)

The composer uses his text to portray a view of…

The composer has used…

Synonyms for ‘text’ should be inserted to identify the text type being discussed such as: poem, short story, newspaper article, song lyric, speech, novel, fiction text, website, image, artwork, documentary, etc The text suggests…

The text provides opportunities…

The text challenges…

The text highlights…

The text provokes…

The text indicates…

The text educates…

The context (social, cultural. political, religious, gender, historical, intellectual, personal) is (suggested, exposed, highlighted) through the use of…

The context has been highlighted through the development of…

The composer has provided a contextual focus by….

Contextually the text suggests…

The values of the text are conveyed through the use of…

The composer’s values are exposed when…

The composer’s values are exposed by…

Values of….. are explored through the text using…

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The audience for the text is suggested through….

The audience for the text is suggested by…

The use of [technique] highlights, suggests, infers, develops understanding, exposes, provokes, informs,

Techniques such as…. have been used to (expose, highlight, provoke, suggest, initiate discussion, provide opportunities, inform, educate, develop an understanding of)…

The theme of ….. is developed through the issue of….

The theme of …..is highlighted…

The theme of ….. is explicitly stated….

The theme of ….. is implicit rather than explicitly stated using….

The theme of ….. is exposed…

The issue of ….. (is exposed, highlighted, suggested, inferred, paralleled by, implied, intimated, headlined, given priority) through ….

A critical reading of the text suggests…

A critical analysis of the text provides opportunities to…

Close reading of the text provides insight into…

Synonyms such as viewer, reader, author etc can be developed here The responder/audience/ viewer/ understands…

The responder/audience/ viewer/’s impression is…

The responder/audience/ viewer/ is persuaded to…

The impact on the responder/audience/ viewer/ reminds us that…

The responder/audience/ viewer/ becomes convinced of…

The responder/audience/viewer develops…

Sentence starters relating to Distinctively Visual Conceptually, ‘Distinctively Visual’ is highlighted through…

Distinctively Visual, as a concept, is highlighted through…

Distinctively Visual, both literally and conceptually, is exposed through…

Literally, the ‘Distinctively Visual’ is presented through…

‘Distinctively Visual’ images are a manifestation of…

The moral insights gained from the constructed images suggest….

The concept of Distinctively Visual is developed through…

The composer engages with the conceptual premises inherent to ‘Distinctively Visual’ through…

The composer engages with the concept of Distinctively Visual using…

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In transforming the relationship between… the composer is suggesting…

Transformation takes place through….

The concept of ‘Distinctively Visual’ is effectively conveyed through…

The composer explores the effects of image through…

The transition from … to…. Suggests a changing (perception, understanding, view) of ….

The use of illustrative dialogue (suggests, conveys, exposes, develops, provides)…

Visualisation of the theme is (discussed, exposed, inferred, developed) in order to….

Juxtaposing the three texts provides…

Juxtaposition of the texts suggests…

Juxtaposing [the text] alongside [the text]….suggests opportunities to explore…

Analysis of the three texts suggests…

A critical reading of all three texts provides…

Both texts explore…

All three texts expose…

The texts suggests...

each text portrays…

A balanced discussion of …………….. is maintained through…

Bias becomes evident when…

Negation of the rights of the individual become apparent through the…

A discomforting visual of… confronts us to…

The nascent implications located in the…

The visual of… challenges the moral rectitude of…

The metaphysical imagery constructed by the poet leads us to…

The narrative qualities present quintessential insights into…

Philosophically speaking, the …

Existential ideas about identity are explored through images of…

Self awareness, an epiphany depicting…becomes apparent through…

The subtlety of the character’s awareness of…is evident in…

Our views on … are challenged by…

Our views on …are provocatively engaged through…

Historical interpretations are negated and revised through the language of…

Disturbing awareness of the implications of…become evident in…

Increasing awareness of …. allows us to…

The exposition of…is damning as…

Representations of gender as a minority provide opportunities to explore…

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An uncomfortable reminder of the consequences of captivity becomes apparent through…

The staging/ cinematography/language expel any sense of…

The constructs evident in the purposeful choice of [language/film technique/ dramatic devices] create doubt in terms of…

Inspirational mantras of…evolve out of the challenges evident in…

The disparate nature of individuals and an awareness of how they visualise insights is located in…

Alternate views of history are exposed through…

We are compromised by the historical metanarrative as it…

The cultural and gender constraints of history represented in … reinforce notions of…

The resonance of… exposes…

Moral codas are revealed and sustained through …

Social, cultural and moral disintegration of individuals is depicted through…

The impact of…becomes evident in…

The chronicling of events in a coherent structure allows insight into…

Political and philosophical ideas about…convey the innate need to…

Allegorical representations force us to recognise…

Speculation arises when the expectations of …. confront our pre-existing view of…

Images of Empire and colonialism are a confronting reminder of…

Traditional boundaries of…are exposed and shattered as…

The dramatic realities of captivity become apparent through…

The structural premise echoes the voice of each of us when we are confronted by…

Attitudinal responses need to be equated with the…

Misto’s use of literal images immediately creates connotations of….

The metaphorical implication of the images forces us to….

Bridie’s developing awareness of her own hubris initiates a discussion of…

Sheila’s epiphany is evidenced through…

Confronting reminders of cultural difference are explored through images of…

The motif of the shoe-horn is used to construct images of…

Frightening images of…are constructed through both descriptive and aural imagery emphasising…

The juxtaposition of image and dialogue presents insight into…

Figurative language is used to…

The photographs are an explicit reminder of…

Gendered images of war are presented through…

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The correlative of image and dialogue extends the notion of…

Alarming imagery of …is presented through the expressive dialogue…

A disturbing sense of evil is exposed through Sheila’s depiction of…

The shoe-horn is used both literally and figuratively to express…

The explicit use of historical photographs in Scene… constructs…

The historical context is implied through the literal images of…

Propaganda and image have been used to…

Comparisons between the male and female experience is presented through images of…

Bridie’s representations of the physical condition of the women highlights…

Inferred imagery of Empire and its associations is referenced by Bridie to…

Sheila’s representations of self are identified through images of…

The discourse of imagery, both literal and figurative as being a means to understand experience is explored through…

Images of….allows us to recognise…

The props present imagery that orients the audience allowing them to…

Fear is constructed through the imagery of…

Reconciliation between the women and their experience can be seen through

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Sample HSC Essay Questions

(a) ‘How has your study of the ‘Distinctively Visual’ presented you with opportunities to challenge your perception of self and the world?

Make reference to your core text and at least ONE text of your own choosing.

(b) ‘Effective imagery is always sensory’

To what extent is this statement true in relation to the texts you have studied?

Make reference to your core text and at least ONE text of your own choosing.

(c) ‘We are challenged by the images constructed in texts as they force us to examine the way we respond to the values of others.’

How has this idea presented in the texts you have studied?

Make reference to your core text and at least ONE text of your own choosing.

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Distinctively Visual – The Shoe-Horn SonataStudy Guide ChecklistStudying a drama text, especially Misto’s text, requires a recalibration of our thinking about how text is created and how meaning is made. Text that is specifically created for immediate interaction with an audience comes with a range of parameters that can be confronting, provocative and transformational.

Typically, a play seen in the theatre covers two to three hours of real time; however, in stage time may cover days or reflect back on weeks or months or the lifetime of the characters. The playwright has to demonstrate change and evolution in his characters; growth both spiritually and intellectually is made evident in many cases to substantiate the purpose of exposing life upon the stage as imagined situations that mirror our reality or the reality of others in society.

The following checklist is designed to encourage you to revise and make summary notes on each aspect in your study of the text.

1. List the name, author and publication details of the play. You must familiarise yourself with the provenance of the play - first

records of performance and first publication

2. Write a series of statements to frame any thesis and can be used in any essay or speech:

‘Misto’s effective use of imagery presents the paradox and ironies of war’

or

Misto’s text provides an insightful understanding of the ways in which we can transform ourselves through our interaction with others.

or

‘The consequences of experience are skilfully explored in Misto’s The Shoe-Horn Sonata revealing the possibilities for individual growth.’

3. Establish the context for the play – ensure your knowledge extended to each of the following questions

When was the play written? Who was it written by? How does this work fit into the context of the composer’s other works? What does the play suggest about society at the time? What does the play suggest about the culture it has been written to be

received in? Are there any social or cultural assumptions present in the text? What political commentaries are being made in the content of the text? What gender constructs does the text affirm or subvert?

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4. Establish purpose and audience: What is the purpose of the text? What issues does it raise discussion about? Are these issues limited by events and the time period in which the text is set

or are they universal? What agendas does the composer convey successfully? Is there any evidence of intertextual or archetypal text content that provides

evidence to confirm your assertion of purpose? Who was the initial audience for the text? What level of education does the audience reception indicate? What does the content of the play suggest about the audience? Are there any records to suggest a response from the audience to the text?

How effective was the composer in conveying his ideas? How would this text be received by a range of audiences in the 21st century –

students, the Japanese, men who were prisoners of war, families who had relatives who experienced captivity, refugees?

5. Stage directions What stage directions have been provided by the composer? How realistic are these directions? Are the stage directions limited by special effects or by the interpretation

originally designed by the composer? How could this affect a response from a contemporary audience? Do the stage directions provide any specific insights into the composer or the

audience? What assumptions are made by a director when accessing the text for a

performance? How challenging could the stage directions be for the actors?

6. Develop a detailed character analysis for each Act and Scene Create visual mind maps of the interactions and relationships between the

characters – i.e. are they conveying common experiences and how do these experiences divert throughout the play?

How is power, pity or fear integral to the interconnections and relationships between the characters?

Establish the power roles of each character and how these shift throughout the play

Establish what is ‘gendered’ about the dialogue Misto has constructed for each character

Identify any subversions of gender that take place through the dialogue Has social class been engendered into the text and how does, for example,

the language of characters differentiate and demonstrate social class, education etc?

Does the language used by each character change as the text progresses? How and Why?

8. Language and structure List the major metaphors, allusions, metaphysical conceits, ironies,

paradoxes used in the text. Explain how each one provides insight into the purpose, contexts and underlying themes of the text

pg. 20

Identify and analyse the significant phrases or monologues in the text that present distinctively visual images

Why have you selected these elements of the script? Do they demonstrate change in your characters?

How do the extracts you have selected provide a sense of continuity to the text?

How has the construction of events been successful in presenting a denouement for all characters?

Are there flashbacks? What do the various language forms, features and structures of the text

suggest about the composer? Audience? What other major language forms or structures are used in the text? How have specific verb choices shaped the tone? How has pace been established and sustained - either slowing down or

speeding up the action and how has this structure been developed during the play?

pg. 21