Over the last few weeks, I've been harping on the difficulties associated with teaching. However, it is nearly the end of the first quarter, and I wanted to acknowledge just how far my students have come in the last couple months.I offer you two excerpts from students' writing.
Students in my Drama classes got to see Wonderful Town at the Goodman Theatre. Following the production, they were assigned groups to draft, revise, and publish reviews of the production. These reviews include an introduction, thematic summary, descriptions of best and worst parts, evaluation and analysis of these same parts, and a conclusion. Most of these students are unfamiliar with live theater; they are learning to observe, recall, describe, discuss, and write about an art form which is new to them.
I offer you two groups' observations on Wonderful Town.
"Come and join the actors in the wonderful world of Wonderful Town! This is a production directed by Mary Zimmerman, with music by Leonard Bernstein, which we were able to view on October 12th at the Goodman Theatre. The play was originally written in the 1930’s, but was updated to take place in the 1950’s to accommodate with the music and style of the play. Historically, during the time women were viewed as inferior and less opportunities offered to them due to segregation between the sexes. Overall, we did not enjoy some of the character development in the play, but the ending solved the problem with a resolution and characters meeting a pleasing conclusion." (Introduction)
"While Wonderful Town is a heartwarming story where two girls fulfill their dreams, viewers offer overlook stereotypes and double standards for woman in the play. While men in the play are initially successful, we see women in the play struggle and depend on a man. Eileen and Ruth Sherwood moves to New York to find their success. They arrive clueless, homeless, and jobless and rely on the male characters in the play to get by. When Eileen said “he’s a newspaperman. I met him in an elevator. We got to talking and I told him about you. He seemed very interested in you.” This lets the audience know that Chick was just interested in Eileen for her appearance not the conversation and just wants to spend time with her. He says he’s interested in Ruth’s work, but he really isn’t. Also Ruth says “so interested in me, i’ll bet he can’t wait to get you alone” tells us that the sister is aware that Chick is just interested in her sister's appearance." (Thematic Analysis)
