Homework+and+Assignments

__2-10-2009 Assignment - Details up on the TACKLING THE TEXT Assignment due for presentation on Tuesday 6th AM.__

 * TACKLING THE TEXT**

individual sections to check for comprehension.
====**Summary and Analysis for Lines 1 - 525 The next sections will be posted tomorrow. Here's the remaining summary and analysis of Antigone. **====

15-10-09 UPDATE: CULMINATING ASSIGNMENT - WRITTEN. DUE DATE TUESDAY 20TH OCTOBER - WINDOW CLOSES 22ND OCTOBER
Here it is. Read carefully... I'll post the assessment rubric shortly.



OTHELLO Scene Summaries to be used as a reference guide.


Read Shaw's PYGMALION for Monday 14th Dec. Try to finish it for Monday, Tuesday is the deadline for completion. Acting methods and Period Presentation assignment will be given on Monday for completion Thursday.
 * __VICTORIAN/EDWARDIAN DRAMA UNIT/ACTING MODEL__**


 * __VICTORIAN/EDWARDIAN DRAMA AND ACTING MODELS ASSIGNMENT__**

1. Written question: Are any of Stanislavsky’s acting techniques suitable for use in presenting Victorian era satirical drama? Discuss.
LENGTH = TWO DOUBLE-SPACED PAGES, FONT = 12, STYLE = REFLECTIVE SHORT ESSAY.

What particular considerations would need to be addressed in terms of acting style, as demanded by each play?
LENGTH = 6-7 MINUTES PRESENTATION PLUS TWO SCENES OR EXCERPTS IN TOTAL FROM BOTH PLAYS. TOTAL LENGTH = 20 MINS. DEADLINES: WRITTEN QUESTION deadline is Thursday 17th December. Window = Friday 18th December final submission. GROUP PRESENTATION DEADLINE = Thursday 17th December

on British Drama, but was countered by Wilde and Shaw's satirical works. It will help you prepare to answer the question.
===Here is another excellent short introduction that covers Edwardian drama in general and Shaw's works in particular. Using this and the resources in www.victoriaweb.org should give you more than enough to create both essay and presentation from, and do not forget to browse the introduction to PYGMALION. It has a lot of useful material.===

MODERN THEATRE ASSIGNMENT

 * 1) **Read 7 STORIES and present a key section (4-5 pages)**
 * 2) **Write 2-Page (single-spaced) REVIEW of the play using the accompanying guide as a reference, paying particular attention to the SURREAL and ABSURDIST elements.**
 * 3) **NOTE that some research into the THEATRE OF THE ABSURD is required to complete the written assignment. But this must be a simple investigation and interpretation of the Absurdist elements only. The accompanying guide is an excellent reference, but the other links posted below will also be of use.**
 * 4) **DEADLINES: FRIDAY 8th JANUARY for the PRESENTATION and REVIEW. MONDAY 11th JANUARY = WINDOW for REVIEW only.**

http://www.theatredatabase.com/20th_century/theatre_of_the_absurd.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatre_of_the_Absurd See the following excerpt from wikipedia entry for ref:**
 * 7 STORIES GUIDE**
 * THEATRE OF THE ABSURD LINKS

**Characters**

 * The characters in Absurdist drama are lost and floating in an incomprehensible universe and they abandon rational devices and discursive thought because these approaches are inadequate.**[|**[****104******]] **Many characters appear as automatons stuck in routines speaking only in cliché (Ionesco called the Old Man and Old Woman in** //[|**The Chairs**]// **"uber-marrionettes").**[|**[****105******]][|**[****106******]] **Characters are frequently stereotypical,** [|**archetypal**]**, or flat character types as in** [|**Commedia dell'arte**]**.**[|**[****107******]][|**[****108******]][|**[****109******]]
 * The more complex characters are in crisis because the world around them is incomprehensible.[|[109]] Many of Pinter's plays, for example, feature characters trapped in an enclosed space menaced by some force the character can't understand. Pinter's first play was //[|The Room]// – in which the main character, Rose, is menaced by Riley who invades her safe space though the actual source of menace remains a mystery – and this theme of characters in a safe space menaced by an outside force is repeated in many of his later works (perhaps most famously in //[|The Birthday Party]//). Characters in Absurdist drama may also face the chaos of a world that science and logic have abandoned. Ionesco's recurring character Berenger, for example, faces a killer without motivation in //[|The Killer]//, and Berenger's logical arguments fail to convince the killer that killing is wrong. In //[|Rhinocéros]//, Berenger remains the only human on Earth who hasn’t turned into a rhinoceros and must decide whether or not to conform. Characters may find themselves trapped in a routine or, in a metafictional conceit, trapped in a story; the titular characters in [|Tom Stoppard]'s //[|Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead]//, for example, find themselves in a story (//[|Hamlet]//) in which the outcome has already been written.[|[110]]

REVIEW GUIDE AND RUBRIC **

Here's another review resource that explains how to write a Drama essay in greater detail. It isn't required reading, but is extremely useful as it covers how to find your thesis statement, how to take and use notes, and about the importance of connecting with the play.



WRITING IN ROLE LINK
This is a simple BBC Guide to Writing-in-Role for those wanting more examples. THE BASIC IDEA IS THAT YOU STEP INTO THE ROLE OF YOUR CHOSEN CHARACTER, WRITING AS THEY WOULD WRITE. THE FORMAT CAN VARY, BUT A LETTER OR DIARY ARE TYPICAL FORMS THAT ARE EASY TO IMPROVISE WITH. THE GOAL IS TO REVEAL CHARACTER THROUGH EMOTION, INTERNAL/EXTERNAL CONFLICT, ETC...
 * http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/drama/responding/inrolewritingrev_print.shtml

__STEPS__ 1. __CHOOSE A PROBLEM__ OR SITUATION THAT YOUR CHARACTER WOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT, EITHER IMPROVISED OR FROM YOUR SOURCE PLAY. THIS CAN BE WITH ANOTHER CHARACTER, MOST LIKELY, OR WITH A SITUATION, OR POSSIBLY JUST A MOOD. 2. __VISUALIZE YOURSELF__ AS YOUR CHARACTER USING EITHER AN EXTERNAL TECHNIQUE - eg PROP, VOICE - OR ELSE USE AN INTERNAL TECHNIQUE LIKE VISUALIZATION OR ANY STANISLAVSKY TECHNIQUE TO STEP INTO ROLE. 3. __WRITE ABOUT THE PROBLEM__ OR CONCERN WITHOUT WORRYING ABOUT EDITING IT. THIS WILL LET YOUR CREATIVE JUICES FLOW WITHOUT FEAR OF THE CRITICAL MIND INTRUDING. WRITE FOR ABOUT 15-25 MINS THEN STOP. 4. BREAK. THEN EDIT IT DOWN.**