Performance Analysis and Art Response

Performance Analysis

• Performance analysis involves understanding narrative, thesis, and hidden meanings in plays, operas, ballets, dances, or movies.
• Narrative is a connected story explaining how events build on each other. It typically follows an arc from exposition, rising action, climax, to denouement.
• Thesis is the central claim or argument of a performance. It's inferred, not explicitly stated, and can be discovered by identifying a main theme and how the performance treats that theme (e.g., 'love always wins,' 'dying for one's country is justified').
• Clues to themes and meaning can be found in set design, symbolism, and genre conventions.

Responding to Art Forms (Non-Literary)

• Good responses to non-literary art forms are thoughtful, specific, and detailed.
• Prewriting and questioning (context, content, absence) are helpful for formulating responses.
• Examples of good responses are provided through analyzed case studies.

Connotation and Denotation

• Connotation and denotation are different ways to interpret words.
• Denotation: The literal dictionary meaning of a word.
• Connotation: The implied feelings, or secondary meaning, associated with a word (positive, neutral, or negative).
• Connotations shape meaning and impact.

Understanding Texts: Prior Knowledge, Context Clues, Word Structure

• Prior knowledge (past experiences, reading, studying) helps with understanding texts.
• Context clues surrounding unfamiliar words are useful for determining those words' meanings.
• Word structure (roots, prefixes, suffixes) helps decode unknown words.

Word Analogies and Connotations

• Connotation is the emotional feeling of a word.
• Denotation is a word's dictionary meaning.
• Synonyms (similar meanings) can have different connotations.
• Analogies are comparisons of similar relationships between dissimilar things (e.g., under : over :: fast : slow).
• Different types of analogies (synonyms, antonyms, classification, cause-effect, part-whole, characteristic).

Vocabulary Building Resources

• Dictionaries, glossaries, and thesauruses help increase vocabulary knowledge.
• Utilize reliable online and print resources.

Prewriting Techniques

• Prewriting is an initial stage in the writing process.
• Prewriting techniques help writers focus on the prompt.
• Brainstorming, mapping, and freewriting are examples of prewriting techniques.
• Outlines are helpful for organizing ideas.

Writing Process: Organization

• Organizing writing is important.
• The writing process includes brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revising or editing.
• Knowing the audience and purpose will strengthen the writing.