Open Prompt #3 (Revision) -Mar. 17-

1986. Some works of literature use the element to time in a distinct way. The chronological  sequence of  events may be altered, or time may be suspended or accelerated. Choose a novel, an epic, or a play of recognized literary merit and show how the author's manipulation of time contributes to the effectiveness of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.

The novel Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris is written so that the story is not exactly told in chronological order. Rather than having the story written straight through, Harris writes in two different perspectives that take place in two different times and switch constantly back and forth. One comes from one of the teachers, Roy Straitley, at St. Oswalds school (which is one of the main settings of the story). The other comes from someone who goes by the name Snyde (The identity of the second isn't revealed until later in the book), who sneaks into St. Oswalds and pretends to be one of the students. Straitley's perspective comes from the present, unlike Snyde's, which comes from the past. The alternation between the two time periods greatly contributes to the novel, allowing for a more detailed back story and clarity, despite the constant switch between the two speakers. The changes in time also adds more mystery to the book, leaving the reader confused at parts, as well as building up to the end of the novel.

The switches between the two time periods allow for the reader to have a more detailed back story to the main conflict in the book. Since it's constantly switching, it allows for both stories to have an equal amount of time to play out. Through this, you are able to see elements of Snyde's past that ultimately effects them in the future. For example, the abuse they faced as a child from their father who would care for them on minute and then would be beating them the next. Another example would be the love they felt for Leon Mitchell. They had fallen for Leon, but he had a girlfriend. Yet, once Leon found out that Snyde was a girl (he had originally thought that she was a boy because she had been dressing up as one) he freaked out, leaving Snyde with a feeling of betrayal. The detailed back story allows the reader to understand certain things that come up in the present perspective.

The switches also make the story clearer, Snyde's story from the past explains what's going on the in the future. For example,  the story explains why Snyde is out to ruin St. Oswalds. In the past perspective, it shows that Snyde was the reason why Leon Mitchell fell off of the roof of St. Oswalds. It explains that Snyde blames this accident on St. Oswalds, and so shows why the events in the present are happening. Another example shows why Snyde targets Straitley in the present. According to the past perspective, Straitley was the one that scared Leon and Snyde, forcing them to jump the gap that killed Leon. This explains why Snyde messes with Straitley in the present, they force him to think that students steal his stuff and makes him look like he dislikes Jewish people.

Overall, the alteration of events chronologically helps contribute to the effectiveness Gentlemen & Players. The time switches creates mystery, the sudden changes and vague points in the plot creates confusion for the reader. The lack of clarity creates suspense, the past plot points become clearer as more of the plot is revealed, making the reader wonder how the past effects the future. It  also adds more to the story as well as helps explain many elements of the story to the reader, despite the continuous switching between time periods.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead: Summary/Analysis

Author: Tom Stoppard was born in Czechoslovakia, but is of British decent. He was knighted in 1997 and received one Academy Award and four Tony Awards.
Setting: Denmark and a Boat to England
Plot: We first find Ros and Guil flipping coins, but it constantly has heads as a result. Guil becomes suspicious, and beings to questions the probability of the coin constantly becoming heads. Soon, a group of actors known as the tragedians and the Player arrive. They talking about how the tragedians aren't just actors, but also prostitutes. They place bets based on coin flips and birth years doubled. They actors, losing the bet (even though they won), agree to perform a play, and as they begin, Ros and Guil "leave". This transitions into Hamlet's Castle, where Hamlet and Ophelia are seen (around the time Hamlet goes "insane"). Ros and Guil talk to the king and queen as seen in the play Hamlet. As Ros and Guil prepare to talk to Hamlet, they play the question game to warm up to ask him about his mental status. After they practice, the finally go to face Hamlet. After their conversation with Hamlet, Guil complains about how they didn't find any new information about Hamlet. The players return, angry that they didn't stay for the play. The rehearse for the play that Hamlet has requested, which looks exactly like Hamlet. Guil is disturbed when he sees their deaths acted out and becomes angry. Afterwards, Claudius sends Ros and Guil to go find where Hamlet hid Polonius' corpse, as well as tells them to go with Hamlet to England. After finding Hamlet, they come across a captain. When done speaking to them, they talk about what England may have for them. In the final act, Ros and Guil find themselves on a boat. Once on the boat, they realize they don't know what to do when they finally meet to the King of England. Again, they act out the scene in preparation. When they finally get to the reading of the letter, they realize that Hamlet will be killed once they get to England. They seem a bit hesitant to go through with the plan, but eventually do. As the stage goes black, you can see Hamlet switching the letters as stated in Hamlet. They later find the players hiding on the ship, since their play had offended the king. Soon after, pirates attack the boat, and take Hamlet with them. After, Ros and Guil rehearse again for their meeting with the King, but this time realize that the letter has changed, and now they're sentenced to death. The player, telling them that everything ends in death, angers Guil, making him attempt to kill him, but the blade was fake. The play concludes with Ros and Guil wondering what went wrong, and why were they sentenced to death. Finally, the ambassadors lines from Hamlet end the play.
Characters:
Guil: A smart man, seems to question many things and tries to come up with logical explanations for everything. He worries about what life has in store for them and seems to realize that he's only a character in a play. His Character Note in the beginning is "Well alive to the oddity of it. He is not worried about the money, but he is worried about the implications; aware but not going to panic about it"
Ros: Seemingly clueless man, though has some wisdom to him. He seems to be more emotion based than Guil. More accepting of their fate than Guil tends to be. He seems to be a caring, tender, sort of person. His Character Note is: "The run of 'heads' is impossible, yet Ros betrays no surprise at all - he feels none. However, he is nice enough to feel a little embarrassed at taking so much money off his friend"
The Player: He seems to know a lot about fate and death/life. He also seems to know a lot about Ros and Guil. Guil believes that he knows the answer to his questions, and constantly gets mad at him when he doesn't want to accept his answers. Like tragic plays with Love, Blood, and Rhetoric.
Author's Style: Since this play is based off of Hamlet it has a bit of a Shakespearean feel to it, especially since lines from play are included. Though, the language Stoppard uses in the play is mainly modern English (except for the parts from Hamlet of course), since he is trying to write for a different audience than what Shakespeare was writing for. Like Shakespeare, Stoppard leaves many parts of the play for interpretation and has lines with double meaning.
Tone: The tone seemed playful through most of the play, yet towards the end of it, it became more serious as Ros and Guil were sailing to their deaths. The topic of life and death was referenced more towards the end, which creates a darker tone.
Symbols: 
The Coins: The coins represented how time has stopped. The constant result of heads shows that time has stopped and has made the same event occur over and over again. They also represent chance, the 50-50 chance of heads or tails when flipping a coin.
The Box: Guil had referenced a box at some point in the play, and that box has represented the book. He discusses about living in the box, and that living in said box is better than no life at all.
Quotes:
"Life in a box is better than no life at all" (71)
This quote, Ros is talking about living in a box. He discusses how you can be alive or dead within the box. The box, is like the book. They're trapped within the book, the same story repeating itself over and over again. Ros and Guil are both dead and alive within it. Stoppard, here, is questioning our existence. Are we real? Or are we just characters in a play?
"...if six monkeys were..." (12)
This quote is a reference to the quote in which the idea behind it is that if an infinite number of monkeys had an infinite number of type writers, one will eventually type out all of Shakespeare's work. This is saying that there is an infinite number of possibilities. Related to fate vs. chance, which is seen throughout the play, for example, the meeting of the players. This idea is also found in Hamlet. 
Theme: The reality of the world. The play constantly questions our reality and how the world works, as well as the elements of life and death. Guil seems to understand that they're trapped within a book, and Ros seems to figure it out. They question their lives, their purpose, and who they really are. Through this, Stoppard makes us stop and question the same things, who are we and what are we doing here.

Response to Course Material #7 -Mar. 10-

Now after reading through Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, I now have a better understanding of the ideas that Stoppard has portrayed in the play. For example, the idea about how Ros and Guil are trapped within the book and that time for them is frozen. I honestly thought that was mind blowing, especially when thinking about our existence. It makes me wonder if this is all real life. I have to admit, I have a little attachment to Ros and Guil, they're actually lovable characters. But now that annotations are done and we're moving on, I'm quite glad. Even though we only went through the first few pages of Ceremony, I already find it interesting. The ideas about the spirits and stories are really interesting to me, and I can't wait to get through the rest of the book. I heard from a past AP Lit student that this book is mind blowing and slightly depressing. That only makes me want to read the rest of the book now (except for when we get to annotations, I hear those are pretty tough). Other than those two things we've done a few more atmosphere exercises. Those are fun as always and I always enjoy the sarcastic suggestions for the mood word for our pictures. We've also written an essay on a passage from Shakespeare as practice. I honestly thought that the passage was a bit difficult to pick apart without misinterpreting parts of the passage, but overall I guess it wasn't too bad. Though, after Ms. Holmes went through the passage, it was a lot clearer. I was able to identify more themes than before, and wished I had seen them when writing my essay.