Language in Use 189
This unit is concerned with the limitations of language in recording experience
and the degree to which a writer will seek to overcome them by making assumptions
about what his readers can bring to the text. Its aim is to show that the
reviewer faces this problem in an extreme form and therefore relies particularly
heavily upon the previous experience and common cultural assumptions of his
audience.
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[1] In this session, the class discuss a play, in order to explore the assumptions that underlie criticism. These assumptions include common notions about plot, characters and dialogue; what is 'serious' and what 'comic'; what makes for good acting and production; what lighting and scenery should do for a play. A visit to a theatre is the best basis for this session; an alternative is to use television.
[2] For this session, the class need a collection of as many reviews as possible of a new play or of a new production of an old play, taken from the daily and Sunday newspapers and the weekly magazines. The point of departure is the fact that, in writing for a particular paper or magazine, a critic must know his audience. The class should consider the range and nature of the audience for which each review was intended, and the degree to which the reviewer has to make assumptions about his audience's knowledge of the subject. They should also consider how wide an experience of the world and of the Arts a reviewer is assuming in his audience; and the degree to which he is forced to be allusive, because he has so little space available.
[3] For this session, the class need their own attempts to write a review of a play or TV programme Circulate the texts and consider them in the light of the previous sessions. Many members of the class are likely to misjudge how much background knowledge they can assume in the other members of the class; and all are likely to find that the task is much more demanding than they had appreciated.
Criticism of films, music, records, art exhibitions, or books can be used as alternative subject matter for this unit.