Choose TWO of the prompts below:
1. Alfred Hitchcock once said "Drama is life with the dull bits left out." Discuss how--or if--this holds true for any of the plays we have read this week. Which play is the most compelling and why? Be sure to point to specific elements, such as conflict, dialogue, setting, stage directions, etc. in support of your evaluation.
2. Put one character on trial for "crimes" he or she has committed in one of the plays we have read in this unit. What motivates this character? Point to specific moments in the play to make your case against this character. Then consider briefly the arguments that could be made by the defense, marshaling evidence (details and quotations) to back up this opposing argument.
3. When the curtain comes down on the conclusion of short plays like Nine Ten and The Stronger, the audience is left to decide what finally happened. Briefly state your interpretation of the conclusion of either one of these plays. Don't just give a plot summary; tell what you think the resolution means.
4. Take just a single line or sentence from a play, one that stands out for some reason as greatly important. Perhaps it states a theme, reveals a character, or serves as a crisis (or turning point). For instance, in Trifles, when the county attorney tells the sheriff, "You're convinced that there was nothing important here-nothing to point to any motive," we begin to understand what he seeks. Choosing this or a similar line, demonstrate its importance by explaining how it functions in the play as a whole.
5. Some critics say that the essence of drama is conflict, the central struggle between two or more forces in the play. Which of the three plays we have read in this unit is the richest in this essential? Defend your answer by identifying the play's protagonist and antagonist and describing the nature of their struggle (what it stems from, how it fuels the plot, and how this conflict is resolved-or not).
6. Shortly after writing Trifles, Susan Glaspell rewrote it as a short-story, "A Jury of Her Peers." What is the meaning of the story's title? What does it imply about who is fit to judge someone? Would this be a more fitting title for the play? Why, or why not? (Reading the fictional story and pondering these questions will help you with the COMPLETE essay, too).
7. Identify and analyze the function of dramatic irony in any of the plays we have read in this unit. Try to relate this element to the play as a whole.
BRASS TRACKS
- Compose a minimum of one substantive, well-written literary analysis. Your paragraph must be 200+ in length and incorporate textual evidence (words, phrases, etc.) that are properly cited (page numbers in parentheses at end of sentence, before the period).
- Review the DISCUSS grading rubric posted in the syllabus for guidance.
- Remember to use present tense when discussing literary texts or arguments.
READINGS FOR THE ASSIGNMENT
Paul Lawrence Dunbar, "Sympathy"
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/46459
Susan Glaspell, "A Jury of Her Peers"
http://www.learner.org/interactives/literature/story/fulltext.html
Lucille Clifton, "forgiving my father"
http://homepage.smc.edu/cramer_timothy/forgiving.htm
Yousef Komunyakaa, "Facing It,"
Claude McKay, "If We Must Die,"
Muriel Rukeyser, "Waiting for Icarus"
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2008/04/16