Department of Theatre
321A –SSpring Semester2017
Guideline for Paper 1
Paper assignments provide you with a unique opportunity for you to research one topic in depth. Taking a cue from our reading list, choose something that catches your interest associated with a playwright, taking examples from his/her play between the ancient Greeks to Ben Jonson, then write a six-page analysis (approx 1500 words) of it.
Be sure any play you choose is not on our reading list. It can bebe another play by one of the authors whose play is on our reading list, or a play in the anthology that is not included in the reading list.
Analyze your selection according to the three texts(see p. 83 ff). Start out looking at the action text hidden in the dialogue. Then, go back toto spoken text. That will mean how the play is conveyed (Singing? Declamation? Conversational?),who is on the receiving end.Finally, look at the subtext. This will require that you determine the theme or underlying messages in the play and how that plays out in the motivations of the major characters.
Here are a few suggestions:
As an example, you might be interested in Atellan Farce and, after identifying what is known about the style, take a look at Menander’s only extant play, Dyskolos, searching for evidence of stock characters and their jokes, their actions (you could also use any of Plautus’ plays) …and this is your ultimate analysis… the historical intention or sub-plot of the play.
Or you might be interested in cycle plays in the Middle Ages and the type of stages on which they were played. To describe the evolution of pageant wagons, you could examine one of the episodes by the Wakefield Master (or the York Realist). This topic is important because most scholars speculate that, as no other influence, medieval pageants formed an important part of Shakespeare’s dramatic education.
Perhaps you’re interested in Asian theatre. There are a number of good kabuki or Noh plays to look at, and they will present a different challenge of interpretation, because their method of performance is a factor. You might choose a Kabuki play written around 1700 that came from the puppet theatre and then produced as a live play (sort of like what Disney does, translating from cartoon to live performance), and show how its original, puppet staging affected the Kabuki version.
Although six-pages doesn’t give you much writing space, be sure to begin with a paragraph introducing your research question, the play and the playwright you are considering. Lay out your argument, comparing and contrasting the three texts one at a time,being sure to cite examples from the play.This inevitably means that you don’t have to spend more than one or two pages for each portion.
When writing your paper, please refer to the MLA Handbook (7th Edition or online) and follow the instructions for formatting a research paper. I prefer footnotes. Note that you must have at least three sources, and at least two of those should be books and/or published articles. (Wikipedia, sparknotes, and especially, GradeSaver, etc. are not admissible research sources.) Watch that you properly cite any direct quotations because otherwise, the university treats it as plagiarism. Plagiarized papers, it must be said, can only result in a failing grade.
321A Schedule(Reading List) (1)
……………………….Answer preview……………………….
Analysis of the Erectus play by Sophocles
Sophocles was a Greece tragic playwright who was born in Athens. Sophocles was credited with a number of dramatic innovations. Introducing a third actor was one of his major achievements. One of his minor achievements was the introduction of pictorial prop to establish atmosphere. The addition of a third actor on stage allowed for the increase in the number of characters as well as their interactions………………………………….
APA
1514 words
