The Tempest as Imaginative Journey (1 Viewer)

glycerine

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Argh... christ The Tempest is boring. Shame on you, William. Here are some of the techniques showing the imag. journey I identified in an assessment task...it's fairly colloquial because it was from an interview.
post more! We're all suffering together!

-It is generally considered a straightforward tale of revenge; however, the imaginative journey within runs much deeper. The Tempest is actually Shakespeare’s last completed composition, and was written at a time in which the geographical perspectives of the Western world were being expanded. The Pacific and the Atlantic oceans were being more thoroughly explored than ever before, and, of course, the Renaissance was occurring.
The interaction between the composer and his audience really completes the journey and is one of the key factors of the imaginative journey. In regards to The Tempest, the journey is not just that of Shakespeare or the characters he has conjured. The audience uses their imaginations to consider the island and its metaphorical significance. Shakespeare’s tendency to omit directional details lends to the language of the characters becoming a tool in which the ‘other world’ is created in the audience’s imagination. The language is general realistic, in contrast to the illusions of the imaginative world; vulgarity is a language technique particularly utilised with the ‘other’, Caliban, emphasising the degradation of humanity and the entrapment between the two worlds.
The island in The Tempest is supremely important to the imaginative journey of both playwright and audience, as a physical magical place, and an ultimate symbol of the split within the characters psyche, particularly Caliban and Prospero. The other reason that the island is so critical to the construction of the imaginative journey is its magical elements - the Renaissance signified the return to the mystic and to life’s creative joys. The magic is an important feature of Prospero’s characterisation. As he plays such a role in directing the events of The Tempest and, in that sense, directing our imagination, his sorcery further distances him from reality, places him on a higher level if you will, leaving the remaining characters of the play to travel on the imaginative journey that he has dictated for them. The metaphor is a key technique which Shakespeare utilises to create his imaginative journey; magic also symbolises Prospero’s lust for vengeance, and it is only when he makes peace with his brother that he is able to discard his sorcery, saying “Now my charms are all o’thrown”. Shakespeare obviously linked music to the more mystical aspects of life, as it only occurs in The Tempest when linked to unnatural happenings, such as when Prospero causes the tempest itself, whilst ‘solemn and strange music’ plays.-

some of that might not read right because i couldn't be bothered thoroughly editing it for here, but oh well.
 

kimmeh

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since this text is in the AOS, we dont need to focus on it as much though. Thats the concept our school had. They were going to pick Lear as our Shakespeare test but the year above said that it was too hard doing Lear as a critical. They decided to use the tempest as we dont need to know it in as much depth as Lear. The main thing i'd mention about this pay would be the music and strange noises used with magic and allusions to greek mythology. I wouldnt add anything else in an essay.
 
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persephone

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i hate the tempest. We saw the play during the holidays and it sucked....now I know why Ariel's a guy, it's cos he's gay!!!

Anyway the tempest is really difficult and it's really important that you link it to aspects of imaginative journey no matter how tenuous they are. Also techniques is extremely important. Basically if you can 'imagine' it in your then it's considered as an imaginative journey. It's all BS. Which I hate... Basically pluck things out of thin air and justify with techniques...you'll be fine.... i won't. it bores me to death
 
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notes

1. magic - Prospero's magic creates confusion and 'imaginative journeys' for the other characters, as does the eerie music, sycorax etc does
2. caliban/the island - the entire thing makes the audience go on an 'imaginative journey'
3. relationships - everyone thinks the other is dead/dying/unhappy... pretty silly really...

why, oh, why the tempest? it has GOT to be one of Shakespeare's worst plays...
 

persephone

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i agree the tempest is one of shakespeare's worst plays...

anything in the tempest is an imaginative journey....if you imagine where they're going or what they look like it's an imaginative journey
 
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kimmeh

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Me three-it really doesnt make any foundation or purpose IMO. We went and saw the production. At least they made it a bit more appealing, but even then, it destroys and spoils your imagination of characters.
 

Vaya

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Argh. The tempest has got to be the absoloute worst peice he ever wrote.
I have Trial Exams on it tomorrow... mc shoot me.
Its all a load of crap if you ask me. haha... remind me not to write that in my exam... that could go down badly.
 

leigh4444

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arghhhh i dont know why they even let shakespear live his plays are that bad... they need to exterminate his stuff from the syllabus and it should never be taught again !!!
 

zpvh

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I am doing my trials tomoz and i still havent read the entire book as it is so so boring!!!! :bomb: my head is going to explode with all the quotes i have to know about the stimulus book and my own texts plus remembering all the techniques i am so over it!!!! and they only just begun!!!

good luck to the rest of you for your trials and HSC :)
 

Romita

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Hey everyone i am currently studying the tempest as an imaginative journey for year 12 2007 and i am so lost!!!!!!!
The entire concept of trying to elaborate on ones mans controlling plans in which are all timetabled and write an entire essay on this is like... SHIT!!!
My poor teacher is trying to do the best he can to help me but remembering quote after quote and the characteriasation is spinning me out, i am in total need of some help on the following:

*Prospero's motive for this type of journey
*The nature of the journey
*How its shown through this text
*The effects upon himself and others around him.

It would be greatly appreciated if anyone reading this would help further my understandings in order to at least pass this part of my english course and i will be forever thankfull.

Goodbye and goodluck to all those in my perdicament... NO NAME I AM NOT ROMITA I SIMPLY BORROWED HER ACCOUNT THANX GURL!!!!!!!!!!
 
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baller1990

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mm i feel your pain. Prospero's Motive for this type of journey? i think Prospero is earlier on motivated by vengeance but ends up forgiving his brother, which changes him and causes him to 'break my staff...drown my books'. He controls the journey of each character by creating the Tempest and putting them in situations where they are isolated, and it enables us to see what each person is really like. For example, Gonzalo's has some indirect parallels with Prospero's way of ruling the island. the journey is instigated through disorder, like the tempest, or the attempt to kill Alonso, or Caliban himself as a carciature of disorder. The effects they have, not all the characters change but the audience can now see what they are really like and the imaginative journey changed them, most notably Prospero and Ferdinand and Alonso. Theres too much in there to focus on really, its a really rubbish book, id much rather be doing coleridge
 

trisburger

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I'm doing the tempest as an imaginative journey and it's not that bad. i can think of stuff to write but i'm not sure if i'm doing well expressing myself. would somebody read this and help correct or tell me if i'm on the right track.

constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated

It isn't finished yet and so far i've only mentioned the tempest, but please please give me advice. i don't know if it's ok or not.

“Any journey includes both realities and possibilities”
To what extent do the texts you have studied support this idea?


The appeal of the journey is epitomised in its ability to relate to an audience realistically, while still retaining the ability to transcend the bounds of actual physical existence into an infinite universe of possibilities. No physical movement is required to instigate an imaginative journey; therefore the imaginative journey is extremely appealing and commonly undertaken. It is limited only by the human capacity to imagine and yet it may be as simple as recalling a memory. The notion that realities and possibilities are parallel forces in a journey is highlighted in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Shirley Geock-lin Lim’s The Town Where Time Stands Still, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s 2001 feature film, Amelie.

Shakespeare’s The Tempest relies on suspension of disbelief to portray its themes and characters successfully to an audience. Early in the play the audience are privy to the magical workings of Prospero, the magician residing on the mysterious and fantastical island on which the play is set. Immediately the line between illusion and reality is blurred; reality is not in competition with the possibilities of the imagination; the two work in harmony creating an imaginary world far from the veracity of traditional Elizabethan life yet still believable and realistic within it’s own world.

The play literally opens with a tempest; an evocative image associated with the wonder of nature and immediately generates a sense of mystery and imagination. The image of a storm is wild, an occurrence with which strange things happen: natural spectacles, thunder and lightning are called for in the stage directions and the sense of chaos inspires excitement amongst the audience and forces them to imagine the possible outcomes of the situation – will the ship sink, will it be brought to land or will it emerge from the storm unscathed? The use of the storm is successful in reiterating the fact that all is not well and the audience is intrigued by this poignant image.

The real journey in terms of plot begins on the island and it is this physical location that also initiates speculation. The descriptions of the island by Gonzalo, Antonio and, to a lesser extent, Sebastian, are clearly contrasting and create an overall ambiguous and mysterious impression for responders. Gonzalo’s

“How lush and lusty the grass looks!”

Receives a negative reply from Antonio,

“the ground is indeed tawny”.

This creates the impression that Antonio’s observations reflect his negative attitude while Gonzalo appears to be more optimistic; perhaps with a rosier outlook on life in general. This is reaffirmed a several lines later with Gonzalo’s,

“…our garments, being, as they were, drenched in the sea, hold notwithstanding their freshness and gloss, being rather new-dyed than stained with salt water.”

To which Antonio replies,

“If but one of his pockets could speak, would it not say he lies?”

This extract not only indicates the personalities of both Gonzalo and Antonio, but also suggests that the island itself – so ambiguously described by Shakespeare – does, infect, magically amplify the personalities of their characters. The extreme possibilities of their real characters are realised.

Gonzalo’s gentle attitude is also exemplified in his own imaginative journey as he speculates what life would be like on the island if he became it’s king. His ideal world is contrary to that of the real, mundane world in every way. The other characters and the audience follow him on his imaginative journey as they are asked to speculate what life could be like on the island. Even though his imagined world is contradictory to it, the reality of the world runs parallel with the one possible in Gonzalo’s mind and at the end of his speech Gonzalo’s claim that there would be no sovereignty challenges his very idea itself; Gonzalo’s ideal world began as a world in which he himself was king. It is at this moment that the reality overshadows the possibility as we see that his ideal world could never be possible.

this is where YOU guys come in!!!
 

Mel_b

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Trisburger - what you've got is really great, especially for this early on in the year.

Continue to investigate and pursue the interweaving of the imaginary and the real - this is the line I took with the Tempest, and it worked really well for me - it's quite adaptable to a variety of essay questions. Another scene to consider looking closely at is the masque scene.

What you need to look at developing next, is moving from just identifiying imaginative elements/ an imaginative journey, to analysing the transformation that the journey enables - the very idea of a journey implies a progression, or a movement from one place to another - or, because we're talking about the imagination, a movement from one state of mind to another.

When you consider the interweaving of reality and fantasy in the Tempest, you can move into some philosophical questions, and the way a text like the Tempest challenges the audiences understanding of nature and reality. If you're really keen to maximise your marks, have a look at the Magical Realism critical response that was in one of the old EE2 showcases (03 or 04, I think). Also look at some existential philosophy. My essay for Tempest / Journeys Over Land and Sea was remarkably similar to yours at this stage - I found Jostein Gaarder's 'The Solitaire Mystery' an excellent supplementary text for The Tempest, particularly for the philosphical avenue, if you find that interesting enough to pursue.
 

nigerian

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Fuck Mr Taylor!!!!
The Tempest Is Porobably One Of The Gayest Play In The World.
Shakespear Can Go Suck A Bain.

If I Had The Chance. I Would Have Burnt All The Original Copies That Shakespaer Wrote.
 

Lesey

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Personally, I am in the middle of reading the Tempest and I find it really boring and confusing. The language is so complex its making my head spin! One question: do we need to memorise many crucial quotes from the Tempest? :confused:

Thanks xx
 

kill.

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I have an assessment asking to which extent does the tempest involve unexpected destinations....?

Help. Any ideas would be fantastic.
 

ambyk

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I am in utter agreeance with Kill. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
 

RADelaide

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persephone said:
i hate the tempest. We saw the play during the holidays and it sucked....now I know why Ariel's a guy, it's cos he's gay!!!
*snip snip*

Technically he's not. We're not meant to know what Ariel is. It's left to the imagination.

Thanks Bill, let us do all the hard work ><
 

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