Further Guidance - Dogberry Question

If you decide to choose the Dogberry question, there are obviously a fair few action points that you need to address.

1. You need to know Dogberry's scenes very well indeed. It shouldn't take you long to re-read them WITH a study guide.

2. You need to be fully aware of the usual comedic qualities of Shakespeare comedy.

3. You need to plan in advance what your main points are.

4. You need to be fully aware of how and where Dogberry uses Malapropisms. It is not enough just to say that Shakespeare uses them. Look for specifically funny ones, or ones which are particularly relevant to a Shakespearean audience.

5. You need to be able to understand what how the audience would perceive Dogberry - both then and now.

Planning.

Introduction - This whole unit is about the genre of COMEDY, so you have to focus heavily on the genre of the play and how Dogberry fits into this. Ensure that you make the marker aware that you know Shakespeare comedies have 'conventions'. You need to seem totally knowledgeable on the subject. This does not mean listing the conventions. It means casually mentioning one or two, and making it obvious you know the others exist.

The main body of your essay - Start off by strongly forming your opinion. Are Dogberry/ The other watch characters funny? Why specifically? If not, why not. Don;t try to be facetious over this. Use sound arguments to EXPLAIN why in each case. You need to know what your thoughts are before you start writing. This will take a fair amount of study. Mind map what it is about Dogberry which makes him fit the 'comedy' role, and what it is about him that doesn't.

To do this, you COULD compare him, on an individual level, to each of the conventions. Does he fit them?
Remember, however, that Dogberry's comedic qualities are fairly self-evident. You are really arguing over whether or not the comedic technique of word-play and malapropism is the most prevalent comedic value in the play,

By doing this, you'll find quite a few paragraphs you can write.


Compare him to other characters who are, perhaps, more comedic and point out their differences. Why are some funnier than others?

Then think about your reaction to Don John, and the potential reaction of an audience.

Once you have mind mapped as many points as you can about whether or not he/they are the most comedic characters, use your common sense to order your points in terms of how good they are.

Ie, which ones sound the most profound? Which ones do you have the most impressive evidence to support (remember, you must ALWAYS support with evidence - usually multiple pieces of evidence).

Then simply start to write your essay.

Basic overview

Always make sure you're directly answering the question and always make sure you're referring directly to the genre and how he/they fits into it in terms of comedic conventions, audience reaction etc.

You should try to use technical vocabulary wherever possible: Enjambment, imagery, hyperbole, lexical field etc.