English 308-Modern Drama
Professor Melissa D. Aaron
Office: 24-229
Phone: 869-3839
Email:maaron@csupomona.edu
| Web page | Courses Page |
| Shakespeare Page | Resources Page |
| Performance paper | |
| Comparative paper | Drama group project |
Required texts
Ibsen, Four Major Plays.
Chekhov, The Essential Plays.
Shaw, Pygmalion and Major Barbara.
Brecht, Berthold, The Threepenny Opera.
O'Neill, Eugene. Long Day's Journey Into Night.
Miller, Arthur. All My sons.
Williams, Tennessee. Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.
Weiss, Peter. Marat/Sade.
Stoppard, Tom. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.
Soyinka, Wole. Death and the King's Horsemen.
Kushner, Tony. Angels in America.
Course description
This course is intended as a survey of drama. What
makes it different from other forms of literature? Obviously, that it is intended
to be performed; but on second glance that is not as obvious as it seems. Indeed,
some 20th century drama theorists emphasized that drama is not the dialogue
at all. When we read a dramatic text, we are only getting a part-and perhaps
not even the most important part-of the whole. This course will look as drama
holistically.
That said, this is not a performance class and I do not claim to be qualified to teach acting. What you will be learning is theater history; how to fill in the gaps in reading a dramatic text, how to examine a performance critically, and how to reflect on the dramatic traditions that still influence us today.
We will be reading almost a play a week. There will therefore be a lot of reading, but this should not necessarily be onerous, and it will give you a much better idea of the development of modern drama; I have already had to leave much wonderful material out.
Course requirements
Participation--25%
2 3-4 page papers, 25% each--50%
One collaborative final project--performance and short paper-25%
All work handed in to me must be typed and double-spaced, with inch-wide margins, in ten or twelve point font; Times New Roman, which I'm writing in here, is nice and easy to read. Please type your name, the class and section number, my name and the date in the upper-right hand corner, and the title centered at the top of the first page. Do not have a title page, and please, please staple your papers together.
The short, ungraded assignments will be done electronically on a threaded discussion board. They are discussion-related and will count towards your participation. Since they are time-sensitive, they cannot be made up.
maaron@csupomona.edu