Mr. Baines

2016-2017

Playwright Mini-Research Project

When studying plays, it is vital to have an in-depth understanding of the playwright in order to effectively analyze and interpret their work. Knowing the historical context in which a playwright grew up and lived in can greatly affect how an actor reads and portrays a character. For this reason, we will be taking a closer look at a few famous playwrights that may be read/acted out in this course.

You may work in groups of no more than four. Choose one of the playwrights/lyricists from the list below to study. As a group, research the world he/she lived in during the time they wrote. Each group will present an oral presentation accompanied by either a visual aid or a short performance (no less than fifteen lines of monologue and/or dialogue). A written outline (at least three paragraphs, typed) of this report must also be submitted.

Tennessee Williams T.S. Elliot Lorraine Hansberry Oscar Wilde
William Shakespeare Sophocles Stephen Sondheim
George Bernard Shaw Christopher Marlowe

Report should include:

  1. A brief background and history of the playwright’s life and career
  2. A description of the world surrounding the playwright, specifically the historical, social, political and cultural influences of the time. Your report may include: wars/revolutions/political upheavals, change in government,

scientific/religious/philosophical theories or discoveries, change in class structure, trends in gender roles, sexual identity, cultural influences such as entertainment, or fashion as well as personal challenges or life changing events in the playwright's life.

  1. How did these factors affect the playwright and/or influence their writing?

To be turned in:

  1. Typed report (MLA format)
  2. Visual Aid (PowerPoint, poster, etc.) or script from performance

Grading criteria:

Written Report – 26 points

Visual Aid – 25 points

Oral Presentation – 49 points

Final Grade: _____ / 100

ORAL REPORT RUBRIC

Criteria / 7 / 6 / 5 / 3
Body Language / Movements are fluid and help the audience visualize what is being presented. / Made movements or gestures that enhanced articulation. / Very little movement or descriptive gestures. / No movement or descriptive gestures.
Eye
Contact / Holds attention of entire audience with the use of direct eye contact. / Consistent use of direct eye contact with audience. / Displayed minimal eye contact with audience. / No eye contact with audience.
Introduction &
Conclusion / Group delivers opening and closing remarks that capture the attention of the audience and set the mood. / Group displays clear introductory and closing remarks. / Group clearly uses either an introductory or closing remark, but not both. / Student does not display clear introductory or closing remarks.
Pacing / 10+ minutes / 7-10 minutes / 5-7 minutes / Under 5 minutes
Poise / Group is relaxed, self-confident, little to no mistakes. / Group makes minor mistakes; recovers quickly; shows little to no tension. / Group displays mild tension; has trouble recovering from mistakes. / Tension and nervousness obvious; has trouble recovering from mistakes.
Voice / Use of fluid speech and inflection maintains the interest of the audience. / Satisfactory use of inflection, but does not consistently use fluid speech. / Group displays some level of inflection throughout delivery. / Consistent use of monotone and/or mumbled voice.
Teamwork / Students shared the work and entire presentation equally. / Students shared most of the work and presentation equally. / One student overpowered the other in presentation and workload. / Students were argumentative and did not work together.

Total Points: _____ / 49

Comments

WRITTEN REPORT RUBRIC

Following directions:

Does the report follow instructions?

10987654

Audience Awareness / Organization/Development:

Does the writing avoid confusing shifts in person (one/you) and tense (is/was)?

Does the writing maintain an appropriate level of formality in language (e.g. avoids slang)?

Does the writing have a useful introduction, with thesis (or focus), and conclusion?

Does the writing support the thesis with adequate details in its paragraphs?

8765432

Sentence Structure / Grammar and Mechanics:

Do the sentences avoid confusion and communicate clearly?

Do the sentences avoid fragments and run-ons? Do the sentences avoid awkwardness? Does this writing have few or no spelling or punctuation errors?

Does this writing have few or no errors in agreement (subject -verb; noun-pronoun)? Does this writing demonstrate that the student took pains to proofread it well?

Do paragraphs fit together logically—both within and between paragraphs?

8765432

Total points: _____ / 26

Comments:

VISUAL AID/PERFORMACE (w/ SCRIPT) RUBRIC

Criteria / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2
Presentation
Clarity / The visual aid is very clear and effective. / The visual aid is understandable but is somewhat discombobulated. / The visual aid makes some sense but is overall confusing / The visual aid makes no sense or is nonexistent.
Aesthetics / The visual aid is well planned-out and exceptionally attractive in terms of design, layout, and neatness. / The visual aid is well planned-out and attractive in terms of design, layout, and neatness. / The visual aid is somewhat planned-out and attractive but a bit messy. / The visual aid is distractingly messy or very poorly designed; not attractive.
Connection to Topic / The visual aid really helps the audience to understand the topic and information. / The visual aid helps the audience to understand the topic and information. / The visual aid is confusing or slightly hard to understand. / The visual aid is very confusing.
Creativity / Several of the graphics and/or overall design of the visual aid reflect an exceptional degree of creativity. / The graphics and/or overall design of the visual aid reflect a high degree of creativity. / The graphics and/or overall design of the visual aid reflect little creativity. / The graphics and/or overall design of the visual aid reflect no creativity.
Mechanics
Grammar / There are no grammatical mistakes on the visual aid. Capitalization and punctuation are correct throughout. / There is one grammatical mistake on the visual aid. There is one error in capitalization or punctuation. / There are two grammatical mistakes on the visual aid. There are two errors in capitalization or punctuation. / There are more than two grammatical mistakes on the visual aid. There are more than two errors in capitalization or punctuation.

Total points: _____ / 25

Comments:

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