Reference no: EM132410555

Paper Instructions:

5 pages, double-spaced paper with a clear introductory paragraph stating your thesis (argument) as well as the main supporting points. Please italicize the titles of plays and provide page number references for all quotes and specific textual references. For example, if you are quoting from our online play Oedipus the King, please provide the page numbers after your quote and then at the end of the paper list the online version on your bibliography.

For example: When Oedipus realizes he is the reason the city is plagued, he cries "Oh city, city!" (87).

Please choose to answer one of the following questions:

1. Select two plays taken from different places and times (for example, an Indian play and a Greek play) and discuss the ways in which each play makes use of one of the flowing elements: spectacle, character, plot, or music.

2. We have studied several comedies in class. Please compare two of the comedies and reflect on one of the following:

How do different historical periods allow for a range of approaches to comedy?

How are the different elements of comedy (discrepant awareness, dramatic irony, a "happy" ending, archetypal characters, etc...) reflected in 2-3 of the comic plays we have studied.

3. Playwrights develop different techniques to tell the stories of people who come from different ethnic, racial and cultural backgrounds. Reflect on how two of the following plays do this: Medea, Dulcitius, The Second Shepherd's play, Shakuntala, Matsukaze.

4. Theatre is often created in order to advocate for social change. Reflect on how two of the plays we have read this term advocate for social change in different historic periods.