Comments | angevin2: a lesson in the importance of assumed audience and the perils of second-person

angevin2

a lesson in the importance of assumed audience and the perils of second-person

Mar 25, 2007 18:27

The preface to Gordon McMullan's Norton Critical Edition of 1 Henry IV begins thus:

You recognize Henry VIII and Elizabeth I when you see them in portraits, I'm sure. Of all the other English kings and queens, I imagine you have slightly more of a sense of Henry V than of the rest -- assuming, that is, that you have seen one or the other of the ( Read more... )

irrational gripes, shakespeare editions, henry iv

Comments 18

writerwench March 26 2007, 10:27:21 UTC

Gawd. Patronising git! Like poliphilo and t'others, I find that incredibly irritating. What age of student is he condescending to address?

The STYLE of the note is how I hear bad teachers talking to 11 year olds and under. 'Surely' is a trigger-word for any student - like 'of course', and 'obviously'... should NOT be used!

Growl. I hate it when authors try to be chummy and 'level down' to their supposed readers. It makes them look pompous and stupid.

Growl... memories of patronising schoolteachers, smiling indulgently at 8 year old me because I was just over from NZ and knew all about the Maori immigrations but squiddly-dot about the Vikings...

liseuse March 26 2007, 11:23:50 UTC

Good grief that's annoyingly patronisins. I mean, I probably am part of the intended audience for that, but still. Do not assume people! Especially do not assume that I garner all my knowledge of things from films! I am well-versed in these things we call books.

margi_lynn March 26 2007, 17:16:08 UTC

I knew a great deal about Henry V and not so much about Henry IV only because I picked the St. Crispin's Day Speech as my historical monologue to pass my theatre GCSE and I was shown the Kenneth Branagh version in class but that's about it.

I didn't know about either much until I picked up both 1 and 2 Henry IV in a used bookstore on a lark and am now contemplating writing a graphic novel on the trilogy after my Scarlet Letter and Great Gatsby graphic novels are finished.

Yes, I'm crazy.

angevin2 March 30 2007, 00:28:37 UTC

You should TOTALLY DO THAT because it would be AWESOME.

Except you should start with Richard II because that would be even MORE awesome. :D