Motifs in Double Indemnity

Explain how one motif shapes your response to characters and events in Double Indemnity.

Chapter Summaries

We have agreed on the following formatting rules for your chapter studies.

Questions are to be written first in bold italics.
Cambria bold headings.
Cambria font for your paragraphs.
Size 12 font.

Classwork Tuesday 6th September

These reading notes on The Shark Net are brilliant.
Use the following headings to take notes as you read,
• Significant events
• Themes and ideas
• Context Perth and family life
• Rites of passage
• Juxtaposition: private, community, nation.
• Significance of title.
• Interesting words or phrases: As you read, take note of some key words you would like to use in your own writing. You do not want to plagiarise or steal the ideas of the author, but take note of the versatile vocabulary.
-simmering anger, norms, meditation, memorialises

TV drama-rama feedback

Some feedback for your viewing assessment.

1) Define target audience. What was the intended audience? Why? If discussing your personal response, mention your context and relevant attitudes and values.

2) Mention specific attitudes and values.

3) Formulate a thesis. Do we accept, reject, challenge, disagree, identify with the values and attitudes of the text? Justify your position and explain how the text presents these values. Don't just look at the characters, although they are a vehicle for such attitudes and values, but consider how text promotes or privileges certain values. Does the text use satire or humour?

I have an annotation of the question (in my scribble) and some good responses on the portal.

Enjoy.

If you have the attention, interest, desire and action, and would like to study for your test tomorrow, here are some ideas. You can re-view clips of the pilot episode, or episode two of Desperate Housewives (Season One) online. I have linked to a small section, with some interesting subtitles. Unfortunately I can't find any clips from The Socratic Method.

You can also comment/ask questions of your peers. You may like to explore relevant conventions and techniques and how they show issues, values and themes of the text.


Are there any interesting symbols in the pilot? How do they show key themes or attitudes in the text?

Advertising notes

Thanks to P & K for these advertising notes. These texts are great and remember you can discuss advertising in the viewing section of the exam.

Dialogue Discussion

Question: Explain how dialogue/voiceover constructs a character and reveals key themes of the episode.

Try and use at least two quotations and link to other filmic techniques where possible. Endeavour to incorporate your quotation into your discussion. Paste your comment after this post. I have put a sample paragraph here and if you want to look further at the structure I have followed, visit our page at the PC Portal.

Bree bristles with perfectionism in the first episode of Desperate Housewives; she is constructed as a woman devoted to projecting an image of success. Through the dialogue between Bree and her husband, we learn of the unhappiness beneath the surface, illuminating the theme of the differences between appearances and reality. When Bree's husband abruptly announces "I want a divorce" the viewer is shocked by the abrupt shattering of the domestic ideal. More telling though is Bree's reaction - she ignores him - suggesting her power and determination to cling to the role of the domestic paragon. Her husband announces, “I just can’t live in this detergent commercial anymore” highlighting the superficial strain of their relationship. Indeed, the idea of a "detergent commercial" suggests that Bree has constructed a polished world, with a veneer of success and domestic virtue. As the viewer has seen earlier from her rehearsed speech and uptight deportment at the wake, Bree's role is entirely performative. Overly attentive but often neglectful of others' emotional needs, she appears to control and manipulate her family's behaviour. Classical music from the kitchen of the Van de Kamps echoes the dining scenes from American Beauty where the highly composed pieces reflect the uptight desire of Carolyn to control the domestic setting. The scene from Desperate Housewives closes on a private moment of Bree sobbing, alone, actions which don’t necessarily arouse sympathy but instead reinforce the quiet desperation of the life of yet another housewife. Surfaces shimmer brightly on Wisteria Lane, masking family dysfunction and pain as illustrated in the tense discussions of the Van De Kamps.