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Fall 2006

IDS 121.37

Texts and Context

Theatre and Film: Exploration of the Black Identity in America

Mondays and Wednesdays 1 to 2:15 pm.

Centennial East, Room 302

Professor:Leslie Sloan Orr, Ph.D.Office Hours: Tuesdays 9:30 to 12:30 p.m.

Phone:(309) 438-2895(All other times by appointment)

Email: ffice: Centennial East, Room 113

COURSE OBJECTIVE:

This course will focus on African American culture, which sometimes differs substantially from the dominant American culture. The course will explore the formation and evolution of the black identity and examine the interaction of disparate cultures when possible. Ultimately, the course will present a topical study of race, gender, and class – the central battlegrounds on which questions of racial identity and national belonging have been waged. We will examine race and representation, the idea of “the other,” and various perspectives on identity. We will also examine theories about the role of performance in defining dominant and subordinate cultures in American theatre.

We will problematize a series of questions: What is culture? What has been defined as inside and outside of American culture? What is African American culture? How are manhood and womanhood defined in America? What does it take to be a man or woman in America? What is gender role strain? In analyzing these questions, this course will primarily examine plays, films, and television programs but will also reference articles, poems, artwork, and music in order to unpack the series of myths whites and blacks have told about themselves, each other, and American culture.

COURSE TEXT:

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf

by Ntozake Shange

The ColoredMuseum by George C. Wolfe

The Piano Lesson by August Wilson

Articles on Black Identity (Provided by the professor)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

1. Regular reading and viewing of assigned materials.

2. At least four (4) three-page reaction papers to written plays, videos, guest speakers, etc.

3. A ten-page research paper with annotative bibliography on a Black playwright and his/her career and plays – due the date of your assigned oral presentation. (You will be assigned a group with at least five to six students, and the research paper is to be written together.)

4. An oral presentation covering your final paper. (Your group should summarize its research findings and not merely read from your paper.) The length of this presentation should be one hour.

5. In-class reading and writing assignments on provided articles

6. Regular class attendance and participation/discussion.

ORAL PRESENTATION:

In an hour presentation at the end of the semester, each group will summarize its research analysis of the play assigned for the research project. You may show brief clips from films (no longer than ten minutes). However, the focus of the presentation should be a clear and concise analysis of the research conducted for the required play.

ATTENDANCE:

Your presence is needed in class, and your absence will be felt in classroom discussions and responses. It is essential that you attend each class and arrive on time prepared to participate in discussions on the reading/viewing/listening assigned for each class session. Therefore, you will be allowed three absences. After you have missed class three times, each additional absence will reduce your final grade by one mark.

*Note: (For each missed class period, it is your responsibility to obtain class notes and

assignments from your fellow classmates.)

RESEARCH PROJECT/WRITING ASSIGNMENTS:

1. Your group’s primary written work will be a short research paper on an assigned Black playwright and his/her play. Early in the semester, your group will submit a one-page description of its research findings, stating the play being analyzed and the areas you plan to cover. Your group will then submit a preliminary annotative bibliography for its research. By mid October, your group will submit an outline of its research paper. At this point, I expect the group to have a developed and well-articulated statement of what it will present to the class. I will make comments and suggestions on this outline. At the end of the semester you will submit your research paper (four pages in length with references).

2. All writing assignments are to written in APA or MLA format. All writing assignments must also be typed, double-spaced, and font 10 or 12 point (elite or pica size). I will not accept any assignment that is not typed. All outside written assignments will be collected at the beginning of class. Work handed in late will be marked off one letter grade per day (not per class period). This means after four days, the work will automatically be graded and recorded as an “F.”

3. The research papers must contain no fewer than ten references that are cited in the text and listed in the reference section. Only one website can be used as a reference. A citation is a quotation or statement in the paper that is from a source listed in the bibliography, and each reference should be cited multiple times.

4. Each research paper should contain a single, clear, central point (which appears in the first paragraph) to which everything in the paper is related. A paper should combine 1) authoritative (cited) statements on the topic with 2) your insights about the topic and 3) illustrative material from the class. These papers are to be personalized, that is – they are not to be “book reports” on some topic, but must reflect some thought and personality of the writers. I want you to think!

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY:

Plagiarism is a serious academic offense; it constitutes theft and dishonesty! Plagiarism means to “steal or pass off as one’s own ideas, words expressions of someone else without giving due credit.” Needless to say, it includes purchasing papers off the Internet. Do not plagiarize! When in doubt, use a citation or see your professor.

GRADING:

1. Four (4) two-page reaction papers60 points

2. Final ten-page research paper15 points

3. Final oral presentation15 points

4. In-class writing assignment10 points

Total 100 points

Reports/Presentations – Playwright Biography and Play Analysis

  1. Your group will be assigned a Black playwright and play to research and to present findings to the class. Your oral presentations should be one hour long. It is your responsibility to allocate library time toward research to complete the assignment.
  1. Feel free to discuss your progress with the instructor at any time. However, youmust report your progress to the instructor at least two weeks before your presentation is due (see schedule for dates).
  1. Distribute to the class: a) a one-page outline of the life and career of the playwright; and b) a list of the playwrights literary works (dramas, novels, poetry, etc.) in chronological order. For example, the following credits would be found in a list for Charles Fuller:

YEARGENRETITLE

1968PlayThe Layout

1985Film ScriptA Soldier’s Story

1987TeleplayA Gathering of Old Men

  1. Distribute to the instructor only, a bibliography of at least tensources (format MLA or APL style with your three-page research paper).
  1. Using your notes: a) review the playwright’s life and career.

Rubric for

Final Presentations

  1. Three-minute dramatic piece from the play (optional); or
  2. Three-minute section of a video about the playwright, play or historical background information (optional); or
  3. Two-minute segment of a musical piece (Tape recorders and CD players are not provided. (optional))
  4. Overhead projector can be provided if requested two days in advance of presentation(optional).

E. Poster display (optional).

  1. Playwright’s bio/theatre career, the selected play’s production history – (one or two people).
  1. Synopsis and Play/Characters – (Entire group.)
  1. Major themes/issues of play (Entire group).
  1. Stereotypes – (one or two people)
  1. Political, economic, and sociological climate of the times in which the play is set – (Entire group.)

Topics that can be covered during the presentation depending on your play:

  1. World War II
  2. The Civil Rights Act
  3. Black Disenfranchisement
  4. Lynching
  5. Jim Crow Laws
  6. The Black church/the Black preacher
  7. Northern immigration
  8. Segregated housing
  9. Employment discrimination
  10. The urban ghetto
  11. The rural South
  12. The Harlem Renaissance
  13. The Black middle-class/the Black Bourgeoisie
  14. Education The miseducation of poor Blacks)
  15. Decline of Negro males as family providers
  16. Segregated housing
  17. School segregation

TENTATIVE DAILY CLASS SCHEDULE:

Week 1

August:

21M:Introduction to Class/American Culture/African-American Culture. Syllabus – Discussion (Be sure to download, print and bring the syllabus to class.)

23W:Syllabus – Discussion

Week 2

28M:No Class/Library

30W:Video: The Making of Black Theatre in America

Week 3

September

4 M:No School/Labor Day

Ten Basic Story Elements and A Raisin in the Sun

The American Dream and A Raisin in the Sun (Discussion)

Poetry: Langston Hughes’ Montage

6W:Handout -- Black Theatre Characteristics

Due: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

Introduction to Lorraine Hansberry and A Raisin in the Sun

Week 4

11M:Handout -- Ten Basic Story Elements and A Raisin in the Sun

Discussion: A Raisin in the Sun and the concept of the American Dream

13W: Discussion: A Raisin in the Sun and the concept of the American Dream (Continue)

Week 5

18M:Video: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

20W:Video: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry (Continues)

Week 6

25M:Due: 1st three-page reaction paper for A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine

Hansberry

In-Class Group Work

27W:Due: For Colored Girls by Ntozake Shane

Introduction to Ntozake Shange and For Colored Girls.

Week 7

October:

2M:Discussion/ For Colored Girls by Ntozake Shange.

4W:Discussion/For Colored Girls by Ntozake Shange (Continues).

Week 8

9M: Video: For Colored Girls by Ntozake Shange

Due: Annotative Bibliography (At least ten sources)

11W: Video: For Colored Girls by Ntozake Shange (Continues)

Week 9:

16M: Due: 2nd three-page Reaction Paper onFor Colored Girlsby Ntozake Shange

Due: Video: Color Adjustment(For In-class writing assignment)

18W: Due: In-class writing assignment: Video: Color Adjustment

Introduction to George C. Wolfe and the ColoredMuseum.

Week 10:

23M: Due: The ColoredMuseum by George C. Wolfe (Discussion).

25W: Discussion: ColoredMuseum (Continues)

Week 11:

30M: Video: The ColoredMuseum by George C. Wolfe.

November

1W:Video: The ColoredMuseum by George C. Wolfe (Continues)

Week 12

6M:Due: 3rd two-page essay paper for George C. Wolfe’s The Colored

Museum

Due: The Piano Lesson by August Wilson

Introduction to August Wilson and The Piano Lesson

Video: A World of Ideas with Bill Moyer and August Wilson

8W:The Piano Lesson by August Wilson (Discussion)

Week 13

13M:Video: The Piano Lesson by August Wilson

15W: Video: The Piano Lesson by August Wilson(Continues)

*** (4th Three-page Reaction Paper on The Piano Lesson by August Wilson due by 5 p.m. on Friday, November 17, 2006)

Week 14

(November 20-24, 2005: Thanksgiving Break)

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Week 15

27M:Oral Presentations (begin)

Group 1:Play: Anna Deavere Smith Fires in the Mirror

29W: Oral Presentations (continue)

Group 2: Play: James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner

Week 16

December

4M:Oral Presentations (continue)

Group 3: Play: Pearl Cleage’s Flyin’ West

6W:Oral Presentations (continue)

Group 4: Play: Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman

Week 17

Oral Presentations (continue)

Group 5: Play: Langston Hughes’ Mulatto

(If needed, the hour of the final can also be used for class evaluations and to make up group presentations.)