Monday, January 22, 2018

I chose to analyze a short bit of a scene, beginning at 49:45  and going to about 51:52. In this scene, a conversation occurs between two people: Walter Younger and his mother, Lena. From their conversation, a lot can be learned about their characters. They are members of the poor black population, as inferred from the setting, props, and conversation. Then we learn about the characters individually. We see how impassioned Walter is about becoming wealthy, and how his mother places value on things entirely separate from money. The delivery of the script is rather well done in my opinion, with phrasing and timing that emphasizes the characterizing lines of each character. For example, when Lena says "Oh, so now it's life. Money is life." Along with her gestures, we see just what she thinks of her son's greed.

 The most important thing in this scene for me, though, is how despite their differences in opinion and the frequent heated moments in the conversation, there are many times when it becomes obvious that the two love each other very much. For example, the way Walter kneels beside his mother's chair and touches her hand. Despite their poor lifestyle and personal differences, the bond that ties these two together is a strong one.

2 comments:

  1. What a great scene to analyze! I really enjoyed the part you chose. I agree. The set and props work well with the time period they are trying to depict. The two actors work extremely well together. I agree with you about the phrasing and timing. They play off one another in great ways. This is a great clip that helps get a great sense of who these characters are and what they stand for.

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  2. Nice job inferring things about the characters from the props. That is a huge asset drama has that other forms of literature do not have. The use of those props isn't always easy to discern though! I also thought you dug in pretty deep and got to the meat of the scene, especially in regards to the inter-character relations.

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