THTR 314 Advanced Topics in Modern Drama
2017 Spring/63040R—Mon/Wed—3:30-4:50PM
Location: GFS 223
Instructor: Dr. Meiling Cheng
Office: MCC 202
Office Hours: Friday 10-noon, by appointment only
Contact Info:
Syllabus for THTR 314, with Dr. Cheng, Page 8
Course Description and Overview
This course explores the ideas, forms, styles, trends, thematic concerns, and dramaturgical modes that contribute to the making of Western modern drama. Equal emphasis will be placed on the dramatic texts and their aesthetic, cultural, and historical contexts. The students will learn to read selected plays deeply and to participate in the critical discourse surrounding dramatic artworks.
Learning Objectives
This course cultivates the students' abilities for dramatic analysis, creative critique, cultural literacy, and original academic research.
Syllabus for THTR 314, with Dr. Cheng, Page 8
Syllabus for THTR 314, with Dr. Cheng, Page 8
Required Readings and Supplementary Materials
The following texts, arranged by the order of their appearances in our course, will be reserved via Ares at the Leavey Library. Reserved books will become accessible when the spring semester begins. You may also find, rent, or buy used versions of these books in the following websites: Bigwords.com; Amazon.com; BookFi.org [EBook library]
Ibsen, Henrik. Four Major Plays. Trans. Rolf Fjelde. Signet Classic, 1965. [ASIN: B001V0R1YG]
Benedikt, Michael and George E. Wellwarth, eds and trans. Modern French Theatre: The Avant-Garde, Dada, and Surrealism. E. P. Dutton & Co, 1966.
Shepard, Sam. Chicago and Other Plays. Applause Books, 1981 [1967].
Kennedy, Adrienne. Funnyhouse of a Negro in Adrienne Kennedy in One Act. University of Minnesota Press, 1988. [0-8166-1692-2]
Fornes, Maria Irene. Maria Irene Fornes Plays. PAJ Publications, 1986. [933826-83-4]
Beckett, Samuel. Endgame. Grove Press, 1958. [0802150241]
Kane, Sarah. Complete Plays. Methuen Drama, 2001. [0-413-74260-1]
Brecht, Bertolt. Galileo. New York: Grove Press, 1991. [0802130593]
Kushner, Tony. Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Part One: Millennium Approaches. Theatre Communications Group, 1993 [1992]. [1-55936-061-5]
Kushner, Tony. Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Part Two: Perestroika. Theatre Communications Group, 1994 [1992]. [1-55936-072-0]
Houston, Velina Hasu. Tea in Roberta Uno, ed. Unbroken Thread: An Anthology of Plays by Asian American Women. The University of Massachusetts Press, 1993. [0-87023-856-6]
Parks, Suzan-Lori. The America Play and Other Works. Theatre Communications Group, 1995. [1-55936-092-5]
Shaffer, Peter. Equus: A Play. Penguin Classics, 2007. [0141188901]
Albee, Edward. The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? Overlook TP, 2004. [1585676470]
Note: All the texts marked with * may be accessed as USC e-resource pdf documents via Blackboard, a close-circuit electronic forum. These texts are for intra-class sharing only, not for public distribution. I compile them on BB for your convenience and my educational purpose.
Description of Grading Criteria and Assessment of Assignments
The evaluation of your course performance will include your attendance, your eagerness to be involved in the class activities, and the quality of your contribution, performance and written works. You will fail the class if you only come for the mid-term and final exams without fulfilling all other requirements.
There will be three sets of written assignments, one performance assignment, and one scheduled essay examination. You will be graded for the level of your understanding, the ingenuity of your plan, the coherence of your organization, and the soundness of your argument. The evaluation includes your ability to support the analysis and interpretation with specific examples from the plays and the skills with which you synthesize different ideas from lecture, research, presentation and discussion. Originality as well as diligence will be rewarded.
You are strongly urged to read the text required for each class before the lecture, so that you may contribute sensibly to class discussions. Please bring your copies of the relevant texts to each class. Be prepared that the Professor might call you to read selected scenes in class. Your willingness to serve as a volunteer reader will count favorably toward your "Participation" grade. All written assignments should be typed and double-spaced. For research paper formatting and reference citations, consult the MLA Handbook (8th Edition, 2016), and its free online companion, https://style.mla.org/.
I. Participation (15%)
The participation grade is not guaranteed by mere attendance. It's evaluated in two parts.
• The first part is a reward/discipline section for class behavior. (5%)
You will earn up to 5% of the participation grade for this section if you behave as a responsible citizen of the class. If you disrupt the class order, you will lose 10 points with every written warning from the Professor. In addition, unexplained absence from the class will adversely affect your participation grade. You lose 6 points with an unexcused absence and 3 points with an excused absence.
• The second part of the participation grade is decided by your intellectual engagement.
You may earn up to 10% of the participation grade by your active participation in class discussion and in-class projects. Your efforts to engage in the on-going process of learning and thinking in class will be valued as much as the quality of your participation. Courage, discipline, determination, and the adventurous spirit will speak well for you in this class.
II. Critical Commentaries and Creative Responses (40%; 20% for each set)
For each class, you are required to prepare one discussion topic in response to the readings. Better yet, for extra credit, you can adopt a character to do a brief presentation on the life of the character in class. As formal responses to this assignment, you will select four topics to write critical commentaries/creative responses and then collect these topics/comments/responses in a typewritten or multimedia format to turn them in when they are due, twice during the semester. In your response, you may choose to focus on a particular text or to cover all the texts required for that class. Each entry should be two to three pages or their equivalents.
These commentaries/responses may be composed of a set of provocative questions linked into thematic paragraphs, or a series of ideas developed into a short critical paper. They may be drawings, images, collages with notes, poems, plays, journals, and photo essays, paired with analytical statements. Each entry should be two to three pages, or their equivalent. The most important criterion is that the commentary/response is engaging and substantial and that it may provoke deeper questioning of the issues under investigation.
Replacement Entries: The School of Dramatic Arts offers a rich season of productions. For this term, you may replace three entries from this assignment with reviews of SDA productions, including Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, translated by Sharon Carnicke and directed by Gregg T. Daniel; Paula Cizma’s Antigone X, directed by Anita Dashiell-Sparks; Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, Part One, directed by John Rubinstein; Robert Schenkkan’s The Kentucky Cycle, directed by Stephanie Shroyer; A. Rey Pamatmat, Dan O’Brien, Dominique Morisseau, Mona Mansour, Winter Miller, Marcus Gardley, Tala Manassah, Quetzal Flores, Facing Our Truth: Ten Minute Plays on Trayvon, Race and Privilege, directed by Shirley Jo Finney.
III. Solo or Ensemble Presentation (SEP): 20%
You are required to do either a solo project or a collaborative project for the semester. If we have enough time, you are allowed to do more than one presentation to increase your participation grade.
There will be various solo presentation/ensemble performance slots for the whole semester, roughly corresponding to the units of topics that we are exploring. You should sign up in advance which slot and what kind of project (solo or collaborative) that you are going to do. If you want to change your plan, you must do so at least a week in advance. Consult the Professor for the signing sheet.
Both types of presentations are regarded as performances. An individual presentation should last about five minutes. An ensemble or collaborative performance should last about ten minutes. Remember: a project's duration has little to do with its quality—longer doesn't make it better! As a rule, an ensemble should include no more than three members. If your project has special requirements that need more than three participants, you may clear the situation in advance with the Professor.
These projects may be either academic or creative, or both. You may perform as a commentator, a theatre student, or a dramatic character, etc., in your solo or ensemble work. It's your choice to design the format and direction of your in-class presentation. In addition to the live presentation, you will submit a 1-2 page written statement, outlining the title and the performance score of your project.
You will receive an individual grade for your solo project. Your will receive a group grade for the ensemble project—the same grade for each member of the ensemble.
IV. Mid-Term Essay Exam (10%)
You will take a mid-term essay examination, which will be an open-book, open-channel exam. Please bring your laptops to the classroom for the exam. USC students can sign out laptop computers from technological labs located at GFS and THH for class use.
V. Final Project (20%; 6-8 pages)
This assignment aims to train your research ability. Thus, you have to draw at least two outside critical or journalistic sources, in addition to the references made from the original text. You lose "5 points" for every missing source. A minimum of 6 pages is required for the paper. You lose "5 points" for each page less than the minimum requirement. Please consult The Chicago Manual of Style or the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers for the editorial format. Be sure to document your sources properly.
Option 1--Critical Paper:
The critical paper will deal with one of the plays or topics discussed during the semester. Choose the subject that interests you the most, focus on a thesis, and develop your own interpretation based on a close reading of the play and an examination of other critical sources. You have to carefully document your sources and present a synthesis of your discoveries. The objective of the paper is to demonstrate your analytical insight, your skill at formulating an argument, and your ability to incorporate examples from the play with critical research.
Option 2--Dramaturgical Newsletter:
The dramaturgical newsletter will deal with one of the plays covered during the semester. It will introduce the playwright's life and works, offer a detailed analysis of the play that you recommend for a new production, explain the reasons for your recommendation, survey at least two past productions, and describe your own version of production. The purpose of the newsletter is to inform your reader about the playwright and the play, to clarify your individual approach to the play, and to impress upon your reader that the production is worth seeing.
FOR SDA GRADING CRITERIA:
Grading Scale for SDA: A indicates work of excellent quality; B of good quality; C of average quality; D of below average quality; and F indicates inadequate work.
All assignments and presentations will be graded on a percentage (100 points) scale system, which will then be converted into a final letter grade.
A+: 100-98; A: 97-94; A-: 93-90; B+: 89-87; B: 86-84; B-: 83-80;
C+: 79-77; C: 76-74; C-: 73-70; D+: 69-67; D: 66-64; D-: 63-60.
Grading Breakdown
Assignment Submission Policy
All written assignments should be typed and double-spaced. A preferred method of assignment submission is an electronic copy in Microsoft Word format, emailed to the professor at <>, paired with a hard copy handed in to the professor in class on the due date. Check the course schedule for various assignment due dates. Without prior extension approved by the professor, no late assignment will be accepted.
Additional Policies
No cell-phone usage and distracting Internet browsing unrelated to the course material are allowed inside the classroom.
Final Examination Date:
Friday, 5 May 2017, from 2PM to 4PM. We will meet for presentations of your final projects.
NOTE: All undergraduate classes must meet for the Final Examination as established by the University. A final examination may not be held on the last day of classes.
Statement on Academic Conduct and Support Systems
Academic Conduct
USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles.
Plagiarism – presenting someone else’s ideas as your own, either verbatim or recast in your own words – is a serious academic offense with serious consequences. Please familiarize yourself with the discussion of plagiarism in SCampus in Section 11, Behavior Violating University Standardshttps://scampus.usc.edu/1100-behavior-violating-university-standards-and-appropriate-sanctions/. Other forms of academic dishonesty are equally unacceptable. See additional information in SCampus and university policies on scientific misconduct, http://policy.usc.edu/scientific-misconduct/.
Discrimination, sexual assault, and harassment are not tolerated by the university. You are encouraged to report any incidents to the Office of Equity and Diversity http://equity.usc.edu/ or to the Department of Public Safety http://capsnet.usc.edu/department/department-public-safety/online-forms/contact-us. This is important for the safety whole USC community. Another member of the university community – such as a friend, classmate, advisor, or faculty member – can help initiate the report, or can initiate the report on behalf of another person. The Center for Women and Men http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/cwm/ provides 24/7 confidential support, and the sexual assault resource center webpage describes reporting options and other resources.
Support Systems
A number of USC’s schools provide support for students who need help with scholarly writing. Check with your advisor or program staff to find out more. Students whose primary language is not English should check with the American Language Institute http://dornsife.usc.edu/ali, which sponsors courses and workshops specifically for international graduate students.