portfolio, portfolio/ Drama

This portfolio assignment will consist of 4 separate assignments, the instructions for which are found on the following pages. You will assemble all four parts into one document.  Ensure that your reader is able to clearly distinguish one assignment from another.

Each assignment should be at least 2 pages each. 

Assignment 1

Reading (read both):

Pay particular attention to how each of the readings illustrates one of the elements of drama.

1. Trifles(1916) by Susan Glaspell (1258-1270)


2. Tea Party(1974) by Betty Keller (1271-1275)

Writing (all assignments required):

1. For EACH of the plays for this section, answer the following two questions in two or more paragraphs:
   
   
   
   1. What is the central action in this play and how is it managed? How is it resolved?
   
   
   2. Describe your personal response, and why you had this response. Did your response come about in any way because of the playwright's use of a particular dramatic element or device? Explain.
   
   
   
   


2. Define the following drama terms in your own words.
   
   
   
   1. aside
   
   
   2. soliloquy
   
   
   3. monologue
   
   
   4. foil
   
   
   5. deus ex machina
   
   
   
   

Assignment 2

Reading (read both):

1. The Importance of Being Earnest(1895) by Oscar Wilde: Read at Project Gutenberg site


2. The Bear, A Joke in One Act(1900) by Anton Chekhov (pp. 1593-1602)

Writing (all assignments required):

1. Carefully read the The Importance of Being Earnestby Oscar Wilde and then brainstorm answers to the following questions:
   
   
   
   1. What does Wilde's purpose in writing the play seem to be?
   
   
   2. Are the characters depicted as individuals or as stock characters? (Especially consider Mrs. Bracknell--what kind of character is she?)
   
   
   3. What is Wilde satirizing or parodying in the play? Is the plot original or is it predictable? (Would you predict Jack is going to win or lose Gwendolen? Why?)
   
   
   4. As seen in the play, what does Wilde's view of people seem to be?
   
   
   
   


2. Carefully read The Bear, a Joke in One Actby Anton Chekhov and in one paragraph, explain why and how it strikes you as funny.  Use the drama terms associated with this assignment (Assignment 2) to compose your answer.


3. Define the following drama terms in your own words, giving examples from Earnestand The Bear:
   
   
   
   1. satire
   
   
   2. stock characters
   
   
   3. word play
   
   
   4. parody
   
   
   5. farce
   
   
   
   

Assignment 3

Reading:

1. Mulatto(1935) by Langston Hughes (pp. 1615-1639). While reading, consider how Hughes uses plot, characterization, dialogue and stage directions to tell a story and create a reality.

Writing (all assignments required):

1. Map (describe and delineate) the plot of the play with regard to the following terms (use these terms and identify the part of the play that belongs to each term):
   
   
   
   1. exposition
   
   
   2. rising action
   
   
   3. climax
   
   
   4. falling action
   
   
   5. conclusion (resolution)
   
   
   
   


2. Answer the following questions about the play:
   
   
   
   1. What do you think is the central-most conflict in this play?
   
   
   2. Pick a character (Colonel Norwood, Robert, or Cora) and describe that character's movement.  How is Hughes staging him or her?
   
   
   3. Analyze the cultural and historical context of this play. What is this play's reality? In what ways does this play express its context? What was its significance when it was first performed, and what is its significance now?
   
   
   
   

Assignment 4

Reading Assignments

Your choice of one out of the following two plays:

1. Death of a Salesman(1949) by Arthur Miller (pp. 1453-1518).


2. Romeo & Juliet(circa 1591-1595) by William Shakespeare (at Project Gutenberg)

Writing (all assignments required):

1. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero must be a noble man or "a person who enjoys great reputation and good fortune." But Arthur Miller argues in his essay "Tragedy and the Common Man" that "the tragic feeling is evoked" by "a character who is ready to lay down his life ... to secure one thing -- his sense of personal dignity." With this, Miller clearly dismisses social position as an integral factor in determining a "tragic" character. However, he does seem to share Aristotle's emphasis on the importance of self-awareness or self-consciousness. Think further about Miller's and Aristotle's definitions of a tragic hero and respond to the following questions:
   
   
   
   1. In what ways would Aristotle consider Willy or Romeo a tragic hero?
   
   
   2. In what ways would Aristotle not consider Willy or Romeo a tragic hero?
   
   
   3. What is your opinion on what constitutes a tragic hero?
   
   
   
   


2. Define the following drama terms in your own words:
   
   
   
   1. plot complication
   
   
   2. denouement
   
   
   3. tragic flaw
   
   
   4. mimesis
   
   
   5. catharsis
   
   
   6. protagonist
   
   
   7. antagonist
   
   
   8. psychological realism