Connections to CA State Standards

California 11th-12th Grade English State Standards

These standards were obtained from the common core standards of English and Language Arts, visible here: http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RL/11-12/

Key Ideas And Details

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1

• Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

  • The specific script of the “Imogen In The Wild” production can be provided to educators, as there are edits that could be hard to catch when watching the video on a first glance. Allowing students to have the script while they watch, similar to watching a Shakespeare play, will help them better cite moments from the film.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2

• Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

  • There are a variety of themes present already in Cymbeline by itself, with a major one being the theme of forgiveness. Though originally cast as a Tragedy in The First Folio by Shakespeare, the ending of this play is notably more hopeful than other more known tragedies such as Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet. For the Anthropocene project, an extra theme is added on: Reconciliation with nature. The development of the town's relationship with nature, the appearance of protestors and the ending that blurs the line between the world of the play and the real world all hold this underlying idea of conservation in order to give back to nature.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3

• Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).

  • This project specifically takes place in the National Park of Yosemite, with a epigraph quote from none other than John Muir. The opening segment highlights that this film intersects between a town, Merced, and the Wild, that is Yosemite National Park. The characters and their actions have a much different undertone due to the locations of the play being primarily Merced, Yosemite, and LA.

Craft And Structure

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4

• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)

  • Cymbeline is originally a text from Shakespeare, and though there are some changes in the dialogue, the overall language used in dialogue in the film is still more Shakespearean than modern.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5

• Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

  • Similar to how the original play ends differently from Shakespeare's other tragedies, “Imogen In The Wild” ends with a similarly more happy note. The way that Shakespeare in Yosemite is being structured is meant to highlight that, while there is a disconnect between what is needed in nature and what humanity gives back to it, it is not impossible to rectify things.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.6

• Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g., satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).

  • There are many cases in which the text itself can be interpreted in a variety of ways; The use of modern cities being a major factor that extends Cymbeline from a story that takes place in an old place to a metaphor for our current day and age. It is important that LA, one of the largest cities in the world, is mentioned as not at all understanding how to live with the Wild, which is cast as a national park.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.7

• Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)

  • “Imogen In The Wild” and the Cymbeline in the Anthropocene project are based primarily off of Shakespeare’s work, specifically with the play Cymbeline as mentioned. What is important about this production is realizing what it means for Cymbeline to be in the Anthropocene; that is not a location of production, that is a time period, and more than that, it is the way of life for humanity as a whole in our modern setting. This production aims to interpret Cymbeline and produce it in such a way that it can still have life and meaning in our modern period.

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.9

• Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.

  • The works of John Muir, a Scottish-American naturalist and author, show up underpinning some of the language of Yosemite itself.