“Dramatically
Human History, Now and Then”
A two-semester course in drama survey:
Students examine plays from The Greeks to the present
Goal/Objective of Drama Survey (Sophomores)
·
Students
will acquire an overview of theater history that connects purpose, acting style
and plays performed throughout the ages.
·
Students
will be able to recognize the basic elements of dramatic action, including
exposition, rising action, inciting incident, climax, falling action and
denouement.
·
Students
will read at least one play from Ancient Greece and Rome, Medieval Europe, The
Golden Age of Spain, 17th century France, 18th century
Germany and 19th century Russia and Scandinavia. Videos will be
utilized to introduce the students to Japanese Theater, Peking Opera, American
Musical Theater and Commedia dell’Arte.
·
Students
will examine the moral, intellectual, and emotional choices that characters
make.
Assessment:
·
Students
will generate a class rubrics
·
Students
will generate a description of an A student
·
Students
will rehearse and perform key scenes for the class and for a formal grade
·
Students
will write in class essays in lieu of exams
·
Students
will write essays for homework
·
40% of
the grade is based on classroom discussion
·
an
outside group project will due in January
·
a
culminating project will be due in June
·
projects
are to relate to one play or author of the year projects may include things
such as
1.designing sets or costumes
2.writing period appropriate music
3.writing a new ending
4.writing a short one act in the style
of…
5.writing a research paper on an author
New York State Standards, Strands and Benchmarks
Theater Benchmark 12- Blue Print for the Arts
“
Developing Theater Literacy”
·
Students
develop a deep personal connection to theater and a realization of the meaning
and messages in theater.
o
Students
will be able to understand that theater fosters self-reflection by examining
the world of the play and the moral, intellectual and emotional choices that
characters make.
·
Students
engage in research and analysis as dramaturges to distinguish similarities and
differences in diverse theater forms.
o
Students
will be able to identify the distinguishing characteristics of major periods in
Western theatrical innovation.
o
Students
will be able to recognize the distinguishing characteristics of theater from
diverse cultures.
Theater Benchmark 12- Blue Print for the Arts
“
Theater Making: Acting”
·
Students
will be able to apply a knowledge of the characteristics of various genres,
including:
o
tragedy,
comedy, farce, melodrama, classical, experimental and musical theater
New York State Theater Standard 4:
Understanding the
Cultural Dimensions and Contributions of The Arts
·
Students
will read a variety of plays from different cultures.
·
Students
will articulate the societal beliefs, issues, and events
·
Students
will explain how drama/theater experiences relate to themselves and others.
New York State Theater Standard 3:
Responding To and Analyzing Works of Arts
·
Students
will articulate an understanding, interpretation, and evaluation of a theater
piece using appropriate critical vocabulary
Audience/Developmental Considerations
A two-semester course in drama survey offered to the sophomore
drama class at a performing arts public school in New York. The following
lesson plan is for the third class of the first semester.
The first class was a “meet and greet” with name games, followed
by the class individually sharing what they did over the summer. The class was
open, anxious to talk and share their thoughts. Class members seemed respectful
of each other and shared the floor as well as their stories. The second class
involved the students devising their own rubric and a list of qualities that
would distinguish an A student from a B or C student. The class is made up of
equal parts boys and girls, from a broad ethnic, religious and socio-economic
background. The students had to audition to get into the school. Having
overheard remarks made during the first session, the students would rather act
the plays than read them. If they have to read a play, they would like to read
plays that have a good part for them in it. This is my second semester at this
school. I remember from last year that some students had great difficulty
reading.
Previous Knowledge
Previous knowledge is varied with some students having read many
plays and some students having read very few. They all have limited experience
seeing live theater. For the past
two classes, all students participated in generating a rubrics and a
description of an A student. They also assigned 40% of their grade to classroom
participation.
Organization
A classroom with a blackboard and some chalk.
Materials
Copies of “Iphigenia at Aulis” by Euripides for 27 students.
Procedures for Lesson #3- “The moment that tore me apart.”
A 45-minute class:
Objective:
a.
Students
will contemplate what makes something tragic. The class will share favorite tragic movies.
b.
To
introduce some of Aristotle’s poetics and use some terminology (protagonist,
antagonist, inciting incident)
c.To segue into “Iphigenia at Aulis”
From the contemporary film, Brad Pitt’s “Troy.”
Goal:
a.
to hook
the students into exploring tragedy
i. specifically Greek tragedy
Warm up: 3
minutes
1.
Remembering
Names- Throw the nerf ball
a.
Students
throw a nerf ball at people sitting in their desks. You must make eye contact
first, say their name, and what they did last summer. If there is someone who
does not like to have the nerf ball thrown at them, they are encouraged to say
so and the ball is handed to them.
b.
This
exercise is for the teacher and the students. Students get to feel they break
the rules by throwing things in a classroom. The teacher gets to be reminded of
each student’s names. This particular class for me is one of three sophomore
classes, totaling 80 students.
c.
The
game also sets the tone for an “unstuffy” classroom. If the students are not
looking forward to reading Greek tragedy and they think it is boring, this sets
an unstuffy tone and adds a fun element.
Main
activity: 27 minutes
1.
Students
are asked to throw the nerf ball at a student. That student has to say their
favorite tragic movie and “the moment that tore them apart.” Students are
encouraged to say their movie and moment in one brief sentence, otherwise not
all of the 27 students will get a chance to share.
2.
Be prepared for the students to comment
on everyone else’s choice and that they might need “cutting off.”
3.
The
teacher acts as a vocal side coach during this activity.
“Yes. That moment tore me apart too.” “Yes, and it wasn’t even
his fault.” “How could they do that? She was completely innocent?” Hearing perfect examples, the teacher
should also seize them as opportunities to subtly interject terminology.
·
For
instance, when TITANIC is mentioned, when the ship hits the iceberg, that’s the
moment that sets everything into motion. “Yup. It’s all downhill from there.
That’s called the inciting incident.”
·
“What is the name of the hero or
protagonist in your movie?”
·
“Sounds like that person is the villain
or bad guy. He’s “the antagonist.”
·
“Yes,
“LION KING made me cry buckets, too. It definitely has tragic elements.
However, how does it end up? Where is he standing? So, technically, he
overcomes all of his tragic beginnings and not only survives, but becomes king.
So, would that be a tragedy?”
·
The
teacher should only take 5 to 10 seconds to get the terms in and then it’s
right back to the students. It’s almost as if you are throwing the terms
around as you throw the ball around.
Reflection/debriefing/assessment/homework 12 minutes
1.
What
do you think the difference is between really sad and tragic?
2.
Were
there any movies mentioned that you agreed with? There are tons of tragic
movies, aren’t there?
3.
What
were some of the terms I used? Do
you remember? (As the students mention them- write protagonist, antagonist, and
inciting incident on the black board.) What do you think these mean?
4.
For
next week, write me a one to two page paper on your favorite tragic movie. You
may write on the movie you mentioned today or on another movie you love.
Include why you think it is tragic, who the protagonist is, who the antagonist
is, and what the inciting incident is. Make sure you also include the “moment
that tore you apart” and why it tore you apart.
Where are we going?
3 minutes
a.
Brief
Course outline for the month.
i. Where we are going
ii. and what we will be reading.
b.
Has
anyone ever seen the movie TROY? What were some of the character’s names? Do
you remember? Who was Brad Pitt?
Achilles? Who was Orlando Bloom? Paris? And who was Helen, Menelaus,
Agamemnon? What happened? “They
were all sailing off to Troy, to get Helen back and ransack the city. Well, a funny thing happened on the way
to Troy. The wind suddenly disappeared and all of those boats had to dock in
Aulis and wait for wind. And that
is where this story begins.”
c.
Pick up
a copy of “Iphigenia at Aulis.”
d.
“Take a
copy as you leave. The play is due in two weeks.
e.
What is
due next week? The essay.
f.
What is
due in two weeks? The play.”
Teacher Assessment
·
Did I
get the students actively engaged?
·
Did I
get the students thinking about what tragedy is?
·
Did
they leave with a clear understanding about what the essay is to include?
·
Did
they leave with a clear understanding of when the assignments are due?
·
Did
everyone participate? Mark in grade book.