This is the time and place when you get to reflect on what you've learned about drama these past few weeks. Look over the plays we've read and the handouts I provided and review your RJs. Then recount one or two things you've learned about drama that you find more remarkable than the rest, something new you didn't know before. Explain, illustrate, give us something of note to look over at the end of our focus on this lively genre.
Due Sunday, May 19, at midnight
First thing I’ve learned is you can take any situation or plot and turn it into a comedy. In Sure Thing they turned a man getting rejected into a comedy but changing just a few elements. Another thing i learned is every play has a deeper meaning behind the words and actions of the characters. There is always something the characters are saying without saying it.
ReplyDeleteAfter this drama unit, I learned some exciting things about drama I didn't know before. One thing that stood out to me was the diverse genres of drama. Before this unit, I knew very little about the different genres, and the only two that I was truly confident in and learned to talk about were tragedy and comedy. However, I realized many weird and exciting genres, such as tragic comedy, historical drama, and romantic drama. There are many more, but one that stood out was absurdist drama.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I learned is how empathetic drama can be. Many of the plays we watched were heart-touching, and I think many people, including myself, could relate to at least one part of one play. It shows a good connection between the real world and people's lives. This was a fascinating unit; I learned many new elements and genres. I am excited about our new unit since I am sure I will also learn something new.
I think that for me, I was able to learn about dramatic irony. For example, in "Trifles" we as the audience understood how important the clues were that the women were gathering but the men were clueless. I think that the irony here is the gender inequality. We gain more empathy for the women and become more connected to the women's perspectives. Of course, the drama part of Trifles is the death of the woman's husband and the irony is that the women found more clues than the men.
ReplyDeleteI have learned two things when reading and learning about drama. In drama, you can make anything funny whether it be dark comedy or just comedy in general! I also learned a great deal about Dramatic irony as well. Where I first saw the use of comedy was when we read our first play Sure Thing by David Ives. You could see that the use of the bell was the idea of comedy and would go off whenever bill or betty would say something awkward in there conversation and the bell would ,make them reset. The drama that I saw a lot of dramatic irony in was in "triffles". For example, the irony was having both the woman's point of view on the case as well as the mans point of view on the case. You can see that the men constantly belittle the woman on the case which is fitting for the name trifles which means a no body or something that has no meaning or matter in life. For example, the men mock the women for worrying about Mrs. Wright's preserves and quilting. However, the audience knows that these domestic details are critical clues. Overall, I really enjoyed this unit and learning about Drama and the ideas of comedy and dramatic irony!
ReplyDeleteThis unit has taught me a lot about drama and introduced me to several works that I would have otherwise, most likely, never seen. I was not aware how long drama has existed as a form of social commentary nor how diverse the industry has become. We were introduced to cheesy first dates, family conflicts, social injustices, and mental breakdowns. There is something for everyone in the world of drama, and I find that very interesting. I have never considered drama as something I would enjoy (musicals being the extent of my knowledge) but there were several plays that I was really entertained by, my favorite being Glaspell's "Trifles". I found that, compared to simply hearing the struggles of others around us, plays have the ability to make us feel these struggles. I walked away with a better understanding of the world around me.
ReplyDeleteGoing into this drama unit at first, I thought I knew a lot about drama already, I didn't ever think there was too much that went into a good drama show, or even a play itself. Now after our series and taking a peak of what really goes on behind the scenes I can say that I am surprised of a few things. One, being how intentional the author has to be with certain character, for example. Mama from "A Raisin in the Sun" written by Lorraine Hansberry. Mama was one of my favorite characters, and just seeing her character development felt like a whole 180. Watching drama shows versus learning about them are two different things completely which was something I also realized. And lastly, something that I appreciated is how far drama came in the theater world, the history of it all is truly inspiring to learn about.
ReplyDeleteI have learned so much about drama and plays in this unit, and I was surprised by how many concepts and elements can fit into one story. What interested me the most was how diverse plays can be. We explored tragic, comedic, and absurd plays, and they all have complex and unique themes within them. One thing that stood out to me was in one of the videos given to us in this unit. It talked about how comedy plays were created to give the audience a break from the super intense and emotional dramas. That really surprised me because, while tragic plays are still more popular, there are so many great and well-known comedic plays now and it’s weird how they were initially made just to help keep the audience light-hearted. I really love how each play is a part of their own genre, but you can see elements of comedy, tragedy and absurdity in every one of them to some extent. Every drama brings out deep emotions and connections within the audience, especially because you can actually watch the story play out on stage. I think actors bring out more tender and relatable emotions from the plays, this helps make the story more entertaining and inspiring. I had a lot of fun watching these plays this unit!
ReplyDeleteI have learned a lot more about drama than I thought I would. I did a theater class in High School where we mainly discussed Shakespeare’s drama and plays. I didn’t know there was this many subgenres of Drama. I knew about Comedy and Tragedy but didn’t know anything about the “Theater of the Absurd” and the many artistic elements that it possessed. It was interesting actually watching the plays in full form, as it provided a more authentic experience for me. I found that the plays that portrayed realism and the authenticity of being human were emotional and powerful. Those plays provided the viewer a glimpse of what life was like during that time period, and I found it to be very moving. Overall, I loved this unit and I can definitely see myself revisiting drama and other similar forms of literature again in the future.
ReplyDeleteThe scope of my knowledge on drama and plays has been stretched over the semester in this unit. It came as a revelation to me the variety of ideas and details that in essence are the backbone of one story. The most fascinating thing was the variation between plays, from tragic to comic to absurd. The knowledge of these differences made me realize that even comic plays were at first written as an escape from tragedies thus challenging my prior thoughts on the subject. Although different in their respective genres, I discovered that a combination of comedy, tragedy and absurdity is used in all plays, creating an emotional connection between the viewer and the artist. Thinking back at my past experiences with drama, which is mainly Shakespeare in high school, I now understand that there are multiple kinds of dramatic genres.
ReplyDeleteDuring this unit, I developed a new point of view around theatre. Before, I had really only known of comedy, theatrical drama, and tragedy genres, also because in high school I really only learned about Shakespeare's plays. During the past couple of weeks, I've come to learn what absurd theatre is. Though it may not be my cup of tea, it showed me that theatre can be whatever it wants to be. It doesn't have to follow a guide or mold to expectations. When I was little, my grandparents took me to see the Lion King and Cats on stage, and at that age I really knew nothing about stage performance, so I wasn't quite into it. I still don't know if I'd consider myself a theatre fan all that much, but I appreciate having learned new things about this genre of literature, and it's allowed me to appreciate the efforts put into stage performance.
ReplyDeleteDuring this section of drama, I have come to gain a deeper appreciation for plays. It is not easy to perform on stage and try to get their full extent out as their characters. I have learned all about the different genres and how there can be ones such as tragic comedy or even dramas that we might relate to more than we think. They can be strange and make no sense, or they could be ones about the past, showing us events that happened. Every play is unique in its own way.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest thing I definitely have learned is the power of like subtext and the meaning in spoken dialogue that doesn't mean what it really does or the unspoken dialogue. Drama isn't just what they say but its about what they do and how they do it and that we understand that. So plays especially with drama are just so important and helped me understand what was happening especially in sure thing, it was way more intimate and interesting with descriptions and subtext.
ReplyDeleteKaydenc E
DeleteI learned a lot from this drama unit. One thing I learned from drama is that it can tackle different beliefs, and how people view the world differently. In the Theatre of Absurd part of this unit, it shows different beliefs, and an odd take on the world in the plays. But it shows how different people view the world, which is not something I knew drama did before. I also learned that drama can acknowledge real issues in the world, and things we actually go through. Like from the plays “Raisin in the Sun,” and “Trifles,” which tackle very real issues we still see today. All in all, I learned much about drama from this unit, and how it can have many different themes and issues it tackles.
ReplyDeleteWhile thinking of what to write for this blog, I came across the picture on the blog site that had been there the whole time, literally just staring at me. It’s the picture that says, “Intro to drama: We’re all actors on stage” I thought about it for a minute, “we’re all actors on stage” It basically summed everything up over this unit on drama and plays. In a way, aren’t we all in our own drama? We are the actors of our lives, we are actors in other people’s lives, we created dramas to express the drama within our own lives, it’s a way to tell stories and connect with familiar or unfamiliar feelings. I really enjoyed "Death of a Salesman” and “Raisin in the Sun” It was honestly great timing because “Death of a Salesman” really spoke to me when I needed it. I learned how drama and theater better work, and I learned how important drama is to us as humans. I think drama taught me more than I learned about drama if that makes sense? I got to see a lot of the possibilities within drama. I enjoyed this unit more than I thought I would for sure!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I didn’t quite know about plays was the impact a tragic hero can have on a story. In the play “Death of a Salesman”, by Arthur Miller, the character Willy is a great example of a tragic hero. If anything I think he left a bigger impression on the audience than someone with no flaws. It’s inspiring and somewhat relatable when the main character is not just a perfect person who makes no mistakes. It makes the story more realistic and easier to watch.
ReplyDeleteMy knowledge of drama and the different styles of theater was expanded quite a bit during this unit. I remember learning about classic Greek tragedy and comedy in high school, and I thought that theater mainly fell into those two categories. Plus, musicals, of course. I knew that Realism was a literary movement, but it was interesting to learn that it was also a theater movement. The two plays we watched in order to explore Realism, Trifles and A Raisin in the Sun, were my favorite of the unit, and I really enjoyed doing my analysis on the latter. Also interesting was the concept of verisimilitude, or something having the appearance of genuine authenticity. It’s such a cool word! The part of the unit that I found most remarkable though was the Theater of the Absurd. They weren’t my favorite plays, but the whole concept of the movement was extremely interesting. I had never heard of this style of theater before, and I enjoyed trying to identify the metaphors and elements of Existentialism within them. I started out hating Waiting for Godot but ended up really liking Happy Days. I probably never would have been exposed to either play if not for this class, and I was able to get something out of them because of the background lesson on the movement. Without it, they would’ve just seemed like utter nonsense, and I’m glad that I got the opportunity to experience and understand them.
ReplyDeleteA couple things that I learned about drama this unit are for one Some thing I didn't realize was how much they varied. The different plays we looked over and all the other plays even though some are in the same genre they are very different then one another and can have themes that are unique. Another thing I learned is that these plays can have some very heavy themes even though they are sometimes not very long or there characters aren't very fleshed out or even if its a comedy sometimes they have themes that I wouldn't expect them to have. So there are just a couple things I learned from this unit on drama.
ReplyDeleteBetween this unit and my Drama 101 class, I've learned a lot about plays. The biggest take-away I have had so far is how text can be interpreted by differently people, especially when acted out for an audience. You get to see a deeper depth of emotion and character than what could be described in words. The body language and vocal expression adds a whole new level of detail and intrigue on top of an already great story. The use of stage directions, even when just in the script, adds a lot more detail behind an author's intention when writing. Normal stories you don't get to visualize a character's every movement, but when given the stage directions, you can imagine the character's movement and body language.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think back on everything I've studied about theater, the power of subtext has emerged as one of its most amazing features. Subtext enhances the story of plays such as "Death of a Salesman" and "A Raisin in the Sun" by expressing emotions, conflicts, and societal concerns that go beyond what the characters express directly. Playwrights like as Arthur Miller and Lorraine Hansberry employ nuanced gestures, language, and interpersonal interactions to allude to the complexity of the human condition. My respect for how theater can explore important issues and human interactions and make the theatrical experience both nuanced and thought-provoking has grown as a result of my understanding of subtext.
ReplyDeleteAt first, I thought I knew a lot about drama and didn't think there was much to making a good show or play. But after going through this drama unit and seeing what really happens behind the scenes, I've been surprised by a few things. For example, how much thought the author puts into certain characters, like Mama from "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry. Mama ended up being one of my favorite characters, and watching her change felt like a complete turnaround. I also realized there's a big difference between just watching drama shows and actually learning about them. Finally, I really appreciated learning how far drama has come in theater history, it's really inspiring.
ReplyDeleteThroughout this drama unit, I have learn a lot about how different plays are used to portray different emotions in a variety of ways. Most informative was the theatre of the absurd. Understanding that not understanding, and seeing emotionless people under uncertain circumstances can mean a lot, especially when spreading a message. This is because when you don't have depth to much on characters, the plot stands out a lot more and has much more of an impact, especially when the message becomes more clear through the fog of these types of plays. This can be used to send powerful messages and important ones I believe politically as a form of a sort of political cartoon in a way if that makes sense.
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