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Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

ENGLISH – 2nd trimester – Day 2 

Collect homework:
·         signed Contact sheet (2nd page of Classroom Rules handout)
·         4 definitions
o   fill out a PINK sheet (on center table) if you don’t have it today for any reason. 

·         On a piece of paper, imagine that someone was ABSENT yesterday from this class. On your paper, explain to them how the drawing activity we did in class represented writing and reading. 

Complete the 20-question NO-COUNT pre-test for Trimester B. 

List 7 advantages and 7 disadvantages of meeting people who are different than you.

Pre-play Poll
1.      For each member of your table, choose an equal number of statements to work with. (ex. If your table has 7 people, choose 7 statements).
a.       Write each of these statements at the top of separate pieces of paper.

2.      Begin with a paper in front of each table member.
a.       Read the statement.
b.      Without repeating the statement, write down 3 sentences that explains why you personally either agree or disagree with it.
                                                              i.      When everyone is ready, pass your paper clockwise.

3.      With your new paper, read what has been written so far. Disagree with it by adding 2 additional sentences that begin with, “But isn’t it also true that…”

4.      Repeat step 3.

ENGLISH homework:  

Reminder: If you haven’t already, return Contact Information Sheet, signed.

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PLAYWRITING  – Day 2
Checked homework: List of 10 dramatic actions, actions you’ve witnessed or experienced from real life - actions such as a fistfight, or a marriage proposal, or a business maneuver.
List the differences between:
  1. writing for the page (novels)
  2. writing for the big screen (film)
  3. writing for the stage (plays) 
    1. pg. 297 - 321 (The Complete Book of Scriptwriting)
    2. The Art & Craft of Playwriting (by Jeffery Hatcher) page 7.
                                                              i.      discuss 

Introduction to classroom and teacher...including rules and expectations

·         Discussed trust and the collaborative process.

·         Read from The Art & Craft of Playwriting (by Jeffery Hatcher) pages 7 – 8. 

ACTor vs TALKer followup: Interview with David Mamet from the Paris Review.

INTERVIEWER So to you a character is . . .

MAMET It’s action, as Aristotle said. That’s all that it is—exactly what the person does. It’s not what they “think,” because we don’t know what they think. It’s not what they say. It’s what they do, what they’re physically trying to accomplish on the stage. Which is exactly the same way we understand a person’s character in life—not by what they say, but by what they do. Say someone came up to you and said, I’m glad to be your neighbor because I’m a very honest man. That’s my character. I’m honest, I like to do things, I’m forthright, I like to be clear about everything, I like to be concise. Well, you really don’t know anything about that guy’s character. Or the person is onstage, and the playwright has him or her make those same claims in several subtle or not-so-subtle ways, the audience will say, Oh yes, I understand their character now; now I understand that they are a character. But in fact you don’t understand anything. You just understand that they’re jabbering to try to convince you of something.

Choose 3 of your favorite dramatic actions from your homework and complete the following: 

I.                   Develop your favorite 3 by answering the following questions about each:
1.      Who performed the actions?
2.      What did the actions tell you about the person who performed them?
3.      Were the actions part of a larger context, a larger situation?
a.       What did the actions tell you about that situation? About the world?
4.      What ideas about people, life, and the world strike you when you contemplate the meanings of these actions?

II.                Select one of the actions above. Write it down.
a.       What earlier action could have precipitated/caused this action?
b.      What reaction could follow it?
                                                              i.      You’re not writing a play here, but you are identifying actions that have the potential for dramatic action linkage.
 
PLAYWRITING homework: 

None

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