Q: Your site has some great stuff on it – thnxs!
We are starting the play Cosi and I was trying to find some notes on it. I searched and found two sites online, but thats it! Do you have any ideas?
A: Cosi is a text for Inner Journeys so that the material in this resource list I’ve sent may not be a huge help. I’ve broken the resources into groups. Some of the material deals with the script as a text in performance which is not what you really have to study. There is a bibliography your school librarian could track down but I suspect it will be more on the script as theatrical performance and not too relevant to your needs.
With this text, focus on the personal (inner) journey of the principal characters. That is what you will be writing about; this is not a close study of a single text:
- what does Lewis take away from his experience with the patients? (How is he personally challenged? How does he change/grow?)
- examine what the experience mounting the opera gives to say three patients – you don’t have to do everyone
- why has Nowra chosen this particular opera?
- what connection is there between Nowra and the contents of his play?
- Can you identify (sympathise/empathise) in any way – the your understanding required by some HSC questions.
You will need to look at how Nowra expressed his message: structural features of the text and the language features he used. Remember, this is a play. It has structural divisions in terms of Acts/Scenes and the language features will become evident in the dialogue between characters.
Don’t try to substitute the film for the play script. It will have been altered for a filming script. Examiners will want your personal response/understanding of the text.
You will need to make connections then to your Stimulus Booklet, probably one text (‘The Road Not Taken’ or ‘Journey to the Interior’), and related material of your own choosing. When choosing related material, it’s a good idea to choose something connected in some way to the prescribed text and the Stimulus Booklet. The film, Girl Interrupted jumps to my mind although there are other things to choose – this is a bit grim as a choice. But anything that requires introspection, the examination of self and a consequent growth in understanding.
Check for the resouces for Cosi: http://www.e-rudite.net/cosi
Check http://www.e-rudite.net/aosresources.htm for suggested related material for some texts to think about.
eruditeHSC 