American Drama 565-01

Reading Schedule

WEEK ONE

Aug.22--Introduction. Visit Computer Room, Grubbs 100.

Aug.24--Background: A Brief History of American Theatre (online).

Anna Cora Mowatt, Dramatis Personae; Preface; Fashion (1845), Acts I-II (online or on library reserve).
Comedy of Manners (online).

Aug.26--Anna Cora Mowatt, Fashion, Acts III-V (online or on library reserve).
Background: American History through Literature: Theater (online).

WEEK TWO

Aug. 29--George Aiken, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), Acts I-II (online or on library reserve).

Browse through this background material (online): Uncle Tom's Cabin Onstage.

Characteristics of Melodrama (online).

Aug. 31--George Aiken, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Acts III-IV (online or on library reserve).

Sep. 02--George Aiken, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Acts V-VI (online or on library reserve).

WEEK THREE

Sep. 05--LABOR DAY HOLIDAY (no class)

Sep. 07--Susan Glaspell, Trifles (1916) (online or on library reserve).
Characteristics of a Well-Made Play (online) and Naturalism (online).

Eugene O'Neill and the Provincetown Players (online).

Sep. 09--Sophie Treadwell, Machinal (1928)--Introduction pp. vii-ix; Characters pp. x-xii; Episodes 1-3, pp. 1-26.
Browse through our online Expressionist Art Gallery web page. Note definition of "expressionism."

WEEK FOUR

Sep. 12--Sophie Treadwell, Machinal, Episodes 4-6, pp. 27-52

Sep. 14--Sophie Treadwell, Machinal, Episodes 7-9, pp. 53-83
TAKE-HOME EXAM #1 ASSIGNED. Due: 9-21.

Sep. 16--Clifford Odets, Waiting for Lefty (1935)
Background: Group Theatre (online).

WEEK FIVE

Sep. 19--Clifford Odets, Waiting for Lefty.

Sep. 21--TAKE-HOME EXAM #1 DUE (No class). Turn in hard copy to my office (GH 450) or my mailbox (in English Dept.), or email it to me as an attached .doc or .rtf file.

Sep. 23--Lillian Hellman, "The Bigger the Lie," pp. 3-5; and The Children's Hour (1934), Acts I-III.

PAPER #1 ASSIGNED. Due: 9-30. See paper directions (online).

WEEK SIX

Sep. 26--VIDEO: Thornton Wilder, The Skin of our Teeth (1942)--120 min.
Short summary of the play
Epic Threatre (online).

Sep. 28--VIDEO: Thornton Wilder, The Skin of our Teeth

Sep. 30--VIDEO: Thornton Wilder, The Skin of our Teeth

PAPER #1 DUE.

WEEK SEVEN

Oct. 03--Tennessee Williams, "Introduction by Arthur Miller," pp. ix-xiv, and A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Scenes 1-4

Oct. 05--Tennessee Williams, "The World I Live In," pp.181-184, and A Streetcar Named Desire, Scenes 5-6 (Video Selections)

Oct. 07--Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire, Scenes 7-end

WEEK EIGHT

Oct. 10--Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire (Video Selections)

Begin reading Arthur Miller, Introduction vii-xx and Death of a Salesman (1949), Act I, pp. 10-70.

Oct. 12--Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, Act II, pp. 71-136 (Video Selection)

PAPER #2 ASSIGNED. Due: 10-31. See paper directions (online).

Oct. 14--Arthur Miller, Death of a Salesman, "Requiem," pp. 137-40;
Online essay Tragic Hero: Classical Definition, and Miller's "Tragedy and the Common Man," pp. 143-47 in Miller, Death of a Salesman, 143-47.

WEEK NINE

Oct. 17--Eugene O'Neill, Long Day's Journey into Night (written 1941; produced 1956), Act I (video selection)

Oct. 19--Eugene O'Neill, Long Day's Journey into Night, Act II, scene 1

Oct. 21--FALL BREAK (no class).

WEEK TEN

Oct. 24--Eugene O'Neill, Long Day's Journey into Night, Act II, scene 2 (video selection)

Oct. 26--Eugene O'Neill, Long Day's Journey into Night, Act III

Oct. 28--Eugene O'Neill, Long Day's Journey into Night, Act IV (video selection)

WEEK ELEVEN

Oct. 31--Eugene O'Neill, Long Day's Journey into Night (video selection)

PAPER #2 DUE.

Nov. 02--Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (1959)
Langston Hughes, "Dream Deferred," p. 2 in A Raisin in the Sun
Short article on Raisin.

TAKE-HOME EXAM #2 ASSIGNED. Due: 11-09.

Nov. 04--Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (Video selection)

WEEK TWELVE

Nov. 07--Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun (Video selection)

Nov. 09--TAKE-HOME EXAM 2 DUE (No Class). Turn in hard copy to my office (GH 450) or my mailbox (in English Dept.), or email it to me as an attached .doc or .rtf file.

Nov. 11--Edward Albee, Preface, pp. 7-9, and The Zoo Story (1958) in Two Plays by Edward Albee
Theatre of the Absurd (online).

WEEK THIRTEEN

Nov. 14--Edward Albee, Preface, pp. 53-55, and The American Dream(1961) in Two Plays by Edward Albee

Nov. 16--Luis Valdez, "Cutting through the News," pp. 13-16 and Zoot Suit (1979), Act I, pp. 21-64 in Zoot Suit and Other Plays. Utube: Intro..

Nov. 18--Luis Valdez, Zoot Suit, Act II, pp. 65-94 in Zoot Suit and Other Plays

WEEK FOURTEEN

Nov. 21--David Hwang, M. Butterfly (1988)
Cultural Collision: Puccini's 'Madame Butterfly' (online synopsis)
"Afterword," pp. 94-100 in M. Butterfly

Nov. 23--THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY (no class)

Nov. 25--THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY (no class)

WEEK FIFTEEN

Nov. 28--David Hwang, M. Butterfly.

Nov. 30--David Hwang, M. Butterfly.

Dec. 02--Josefina Lopez, "Playwright's Notes" and "Characters," pp. 5-8 and Real Women Have Curves (1990), Act I, pp. 9-46. Note Spanish glossary, pp. 76-80.

WEEK SIXTEEN

Dec. 05--Josefina Lopez, Real Women Have Curves, Act II, pp. 47-69.

Dec. 07--Suzann Lori Parks, The America Play (1994), Act I.

Dec. 09--Suzann Lori Parks, The America Play in The America Play and Other Works, Act II.
TAKE-HOME EXAM ASSIGNED. Due Dec. 16.

FINAL TAKE-HOME EXAM DUE: Fri.,Dec. 16 (or earlier). NO CLASS. Turn in hard copy to my office (GH 450) or my mailbox (in English Dept.), or email it to me as an attached .doc or .rtf file.

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