Drama Unit Take-Home Essay Exam 2003

English 2202

Summer 2003

Drama Unit: Take-Home Essay Exam

Assigned Texts:

Tennessee Williams: The Glass Menagerie (1235-1282)
Tennessee Williams: “Production Notes to The Glass Menagerie” (1496-1498)
Tennessee Williams: “Portrait of a Girl in Glass” (1498-1506)
Benjamin Nelson: “Problems in The Glass Menagerie” (1486-1489)
Virginia Woolf: “What if Shakespeare Had Had a Sister?” (1515-1516)

Pick one (1) of the following topics:

How has reading Tennessee Williams’ short story and/or Benjamin Nelson’s critical essay influenced your understanding of The Glass Menagerie? In other words, what insights about the play have you gained, or how has your thinking about the play changed? For example, you may wish to argue for or against Benjamin Nelson’s criticisms of the play; or, you may wish to note the changes Williams made from the story to the play and analyze why he made them.
How has viewing the film version of The Glass Menagerie influenced your understanding of the play? (After all, plays are intended to be performed for an audience.) In other words, how has “seeing” the play in a visual medium given you new insights or changed your thinking from when you were reading it and “viewing” it in your mind? One way to approach this question might be to compare and contrast your “neurological experiences” while reading and viewing the play.
From reading the play itself, from class discussion about the text of the play, the images and legends on the screen, the music, and the lighting, and from Williams’ own production notes about the play, you probably have a fairly good idea in your mind what Williams’ “ideal” intentions were. Critique Paul Newman’s “version” or “vision” of the play in light of your ideas about Williams’ intentions. How “close” has Newman come to fulfilling these intentions?

Evaluation: Your essay will be graded on (1) the clarity of your main ideas and structure, (2) the clarity and strength of your explanations and evidence/support—the “depth” of your critical thinking, and (3) your use of language—reasonable “correctness” in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and mechanics. In other words, your ideas and how you present and explain them are most important; “grammar” is only taken into account to the degree that it detracts from your presentation. In addition, I am interested in your ideas, not in a regurgitation of my ideas or in a guessing-game as to what you think I want to read. A final word of warning: you are able to use your text and notes as you write your essay, so be careful that you are accurate with your use of authors’ names, titles, quotations, and factual details from the texts.

Formatting Requirements: Your essay should be no longer than two (2) pages – double-spaced and word-processed – with 1.0” margins, and a 12, 11, or 10-point “normal” font (e.g. Times New Roman or Arial). No title page is needed: simply put your name, the exam title, and the date in the upper-left-hand corner of the first page.

Due Date: Tuesday, July 29, or Thursday, July 31. Four reading selections are also assigned for each of those evenings, so plan your work accordingly so that everything is completed by the beginning of each class at 6:00 p.m.