Sonnet Media Project

In this enhanced podcast, you will interpret the text of a Renaissance sonnet, and a Renaissance image with a contemporary mind-set. You will create this media as part of a podcast series our class will publish on a website, as our own sonnet sequence.

Rufus Wainwright Sonnet 20

Rufus Wainwright re-purposes Shakespeare’s Sonnet 20, singing lines such as “all hues in his controlling” to create a contemporary expression of longing, and arguably implying the sorrows of gay politics in a homophobic culture.   In the video performance officially published by Wainwright, the image of the solitary musician in the studio evokes the tropos of Shakespeare (viz. a viz. Wainwright) as a lone, solitary genius.  But Wainwright in his performance is far from alone:  the densely populated room of objects includes technologies of audio recording, expensive ear phones, multiple other microphones, and lighting that lends atmospheric feeling to the environment of contemporary video production.    Wainwright’s sonnet interprets, remixes with new materials, and voices Shakespeare through a new perspective.  The sonnet becomes a matrix of history and the new…the material culture of then…and now…paradoxes on top of paradoxes, feelings within feelings.
Selection: Focus on just one sonnet.  You will create an audio performance of the sonnet, alone or collaborating with classmates.  You may organize another performer or singer, if you would prefer not to be the reader/singer.  However, you should craft the vocal performance by giving extensive input on the delivery:  the speed of reading, the points of emphasis, tone, vocalizations, accents,
Visual: The audio will be enhanced by key visuals.  In particular, you need to pick one visual to focus on through the entire presentation.  We’ll give you the opportunity to move and focus on different parts of that image, and as well, to incorporate other kinds of visuals:  visuals of the text and contemporary photographs or other types of images.  Importantly, the visual should be a way to re-imagine contemporary time, to contemplate the difference between history and the self, to create new affective experiences, and to enrich the experience of the sonnet.
Collaboration: We will form teams of 2-4 students to collaborate on the project.  It is possible to work alone, but is is highly encouraged to work together.  Each group will choose a sonnet.  You will all receive the same assessment except in cases where I have good reason, based on observation and email correspondence, to assign different assessments.
First Draft: The podcast is due the last day of class to be presented or performed in a creative format.  On Tuesday of Finals week, you should submit the final project to the WordPress blog with accessibility.