| Description |
1 online resource (xiv, 299 pages) : illustrations |
| Contents |
Introduction : how to look at a play -- What is a play? -- Plot : the beginning -- Plot : the middle, the ending, and other matters -- Characters -- Language -- Classic tragedy -- Classic comedy -- Melodrama -- Farce -- Alternate genres -- Realism -- Symbolism -- Expressionism -- Theater of the absurd -- Epic theater -- Postmodernism |
| Summary |
With the skills of a playwright, the vision of a producer, and the wisdom of an experienced teacher, David Rush offers a fresh and innovative guide to interpreting drama in A Student Guide to Play Analysis, the first undergraduate teaching tool to address postmodern drama in addition to classic and modern. Covering a wide gamut of texts and genres, this far-reaching and user-friendly volume is easily paired with most anthologies of plays and is accessible even to those without a literary background. Contending that there are no right or wrong answers in play analysis, Rush emphasizes the importance of students developing insights of their own. The process is twofold: understand the critical terms that are used to define various parts and then apply these to a particular play. Rush clarifies the concepts of plot, character, and language, advancing Aristotle’s concept of the Four Causes as a method for approaching a play through various critical windows. He describes the essential difference between a story and a play, outlines four ways of looking at plays, and then takes up the typical structural devices of a well-made play, four primary genres and their hybrids, and numerous styles, from expressionism to postmodernism. For each subject, he defines critical norms and analyzes plays common to the canon. A Student Guide to Play Analysis draws on thoughtful examinations of such dramas as The Cherry Orchard, The Good Woman of Setzuan, Fences, The Little Foxes, A Doll House, The Glass Menagerie, and The Emperor Jones. Each chapter ends with a list of questions that will guide students in further study |
| Notes |
Includes index |
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Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL |
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Print version record |
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digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve pda MiAaHDL |
| Subject |
Drama -- Explication.
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LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES -- Rhetoric.
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REFERENCE -- Writing Skills.
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LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES -- Composition & Creative Writing.
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Drama -- Explication
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| LC no. |
2004029602 |
| ISBN |
142941779X |
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9781429417792 |
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9780809388554 |
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0809388553 |
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