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Go to the following site: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shakespeare. This site is focused on the question Shakespeare's validity as an author. After reading the arguments, can you take a position as to which candidate you favor? How does this argument impact our understanding of Shakespeare's plays? |
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Read Arthur Miller's "Tragedy and the Common Man" and decide whether you think his arguments for Death of a Salesman as a tragedy are persuasive: http://theliterarylink.com/miller1.html. |
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Visit www.answers.com or www.google.com. Enter the term "melodrama" and do a search. What are the results? Visit some of the theatre sites in the results. What do the images suggest about the way melodrama is perceived and/or presented in the United States? Look at the types of shows being presented by these companies. Are there any similarities? What does this imply about the value of melodrama in theatre? |
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Go to the following website: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/vshtml/vsintro.html. This is the Library of Congress holding for vaudeville entertainment on the American stage in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Explore the site thoroughly. Do you find any of the images or sound recordings funny? How can we explain the appeal of vaudeville in relation to today? |
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Visit the Humor Mall at http://www.humormall.com. Once there, look at all the jokes and writings on development technique. What do you find funny? Why? Examine how the urge to laugh is connected to life experience and personal narrative. Now do a search for your favorite comedian. How does his or her background influence delivery and/or audience? |
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There are many examples of farce in movies. Visit flickchart.com and look at the list of farces at http://www.flickchart.com/Charts.aspx?genre=Farce&perpage=10 After examining the list, based on your understanding of farce, do the films fit the definition? Are there films that you would add to the list? Choose one film to watch and decide whether you think it exhibits the characteristics of farce. What popular entertainers emphasize broad, physical humor? |
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Domestic comedy on television has a long history. Go to http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/comedydomes/comedydomes.htm, select the letter "C" for comedy, domestic settings and read the essay that describes its development. |
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Go to http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?444004-Who-Are-the-Top-5-Most-Tragic-Heroes-Villains-in-the-Marvel-Universe and read the thread. Do you agree/disagree? How does the comic book hero relate to the tragedy (traditional or modern), or heroic drama? |
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In traditional tragedy, the language is verse because it deals with lofty and profound ideals. Go online to http://www.movieclips.com/, enter Henry V and listen to a variety of soliloquys from the Kenneth Branagh film adaptation. Or, conduct a video search to various online sites using "John Guilgud soliloquy" and listen to a few of his soliloquies. |
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