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Mar 29, 2024
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THTR 1081 - World of Drama Credits: 3 Hours/Week: Lecture 3Lab None Course Description: Play texts open up exciting, fictional worlds for the reader, and contain clues to the actual historical and cultural worlds from which they emerged. In this course, a variety of important plays will be read, studied, discussed, written about, and read aloud. The structure and language of plays will be carefully explored. Historical, cultural, and political contexts of plays will be examined and evaluated. Through reading plays, participating in discussions, listening to lectures, engaging in research, and thinking and responding creatively, students can begin to unlock the world of dramatic art. MnTC Goals 6 Humanities/Fine Arts, 7 Human Diversity
Prerequisite(s): Assessment score placement in RDNG 0950 or above or completion of RDNG 0900 with a grade of C or higher. Corequisite(s): None Recommendation: None
Major Content
- For each play, one or more of the following will be explored: Historical context of a play. Cultural context of a play. Political and societal context of a play.
- For each play, the following topics will be explored/discussed/covered: Structure/plot of the play. Use of imagery, metaphor, and theme in the play. Discovering the authors point of view Discovering the students point of view
- Overview of the World of Drama Historical periods Genres Cultural contexts Political contexts Structures and types of drama Oral and written traditions
- Play texts will be drawn from at least eight of the categories listed below. Some texts can relate to two or more categories. Zoot Suit, for example, by Luis Valdez, is both Brechtian and by a Hispanic- American author. Greek/Roman Middle Ages Renaissance (Europe) Early Realism (Europe) American Realism African and/or African American Asian and/or Asian American Native North or South American Hispanic/Latin American Existentialism Epic/Brechtian Absurdism Postmodernism
- Point of view/perspective Discovering the playwrights perspective Formulating your own point of view on a play Articulating one or more perspectives Comparing and contrasting points of view
- Tools for exploring play texts Structure/plot components Literary analysis Character exploration Brief look at theoretical lenses (Marxist, Feminist, Psychoanalytic, etc.)
Learning Outcomes At the end of this course students will be able to:
- analyze a play text for plot structure and character development.
- employ vocabulary and concepts germane to a deeper understanding of dramatic texts.
- identify specific uses of imagery, metaphor, and theme by a playwright.
- describe the values and constructs of the world created within the play text.
- discuss the influence of history, culture, and politics on playwrights.
- identify ways in which history, culture, and politics have shaped plays.
- articulate their responses to plays, and their objective and subjective reasons for them.
- formulate ideas about how aspects within the play text reflect contemporary society.
- list the positives and negatives of specific dramatic choices the playwright makes.
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