2.05 Examine the work of a playwright (AS91217)
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This resource supports assessment against: Achievement Standard 91217 version 2 - Examine the work of a Playwright.
Resource Title: The Bard
4 Credits (2.5Av2)
Examine the work of a playwright involves exploring the concerns of the playwright, and where and how they are expressed in their work. It also involves exploring one or more of the following:
Resource Title: The Bard
4 Credits (2.5Av2)
Examine the work of a playwright involves exploring the concerns of the playwright, and where and how they are expressed in their work. It also involves exploring one or more of the following:
- the social and/or historical world of the playwright as it relates to the chosen texts
- the common and/or contrasting ideas and concerns evident in the plays
- the style, structure and purpose of the plays.
- the performance space and its influence on the plays
Extracts from two or more texts must be examined.
Examine the work of a playwright showing an informed understanding involves giving detailed explanations and providing examples to illustrate statements. Examples are to be taken from the texts to articulate the playwright’s ideas in detail and with clarity.
Examine the work of a playwright showing a perceptive understanding involves making insightful connections between the play and the wider world of the play and the playwright.
Achievement - Examine the work of a playwright.
Achievement with Merit - Examine the work of a playwright showing an informed understanding.
Achievement with Excellence - Examine the work of a playwright showing a perceptive understanding.
Context - setting:
This activity requires students to examine the work of a playwright through consideration of extracts from at least two texts.
They will explore:
· the social and historical world of the playwright
· the differences and similarities between the ideas and concerns evident in the playwright’s work
· the style, structure, and purpose of the plays.
Students are guided through a series of practical tasks that they then reflect on to show their understanding of the works of the chosen playwright.
Students will document their examination of the works of the playwright in a portfolio, and this will be assessed. Students should be encouraged to use their portfolios to collect their thoughts via brainstorming, reflecting, and annotating as they progress though the task.
Prior learning
Before beginning the assessment task, provide opportunity for students to familiarise themselves with examples of the playwrights works, and introduce them to the world of the playwright.
Conditions:
It is suggested that this assessment task will take place over 7 weeks of in and out-of-class time.
The exploration of the plays and playwright will be completed using different combinations of whole-class learning, individual research, and small-group work. The portfolios will be each student’s own work and will be assessed individually.
The exploration of the plays and playwright will be completed using different combinations of whole-class learning, individual research, and small-group work. The portfolios will be each student’s own work and will be assessed individually.
Resources:
· Copies of selected extracts from works of the playwright, as well as opportunities to read or view whole texts
· Access to books, websites, and other resources about the world of the playwright
· Digital camera
· Printer or copier.
Student instructions: tasks
Introduction
This assessment activity requires you to examine the work of a playwright through consideration of extracts from at least two texts.
You will explore:
· the social and historical world of the playwright
· the differences and similarities between the ideas and concerns evident in the playwright’s works
· the style, structure, and purpose of the plays.
You will work through a series of practical tasks, which you will reflect on to show your understanding of the works of the playwright.
You will record your examination of the playwright’s works in a portfolio, and this will be assessed by your teacher. You will use your portfolio to collect your thoughts as you progress though the task. It may be hand-written or typed. It will include video footage and photographs, charts, brainstorms, and annotated scripts.
This assessment task will take place over 6 weeks of in and out-of-class time.
Your teacher will have introduced you to the world of the playwright and examples of their work prior to beginning this task.
You will also be expected to spend time for homework considering the different aspects of the task and making additional notes in your portfolios. Sometimes the best ideas occur in random moments. Keep a record of these and document them in your portfolio.
This assessment activity requires you to examine the work of a playwright through consideration of extracts from at least two texts.
You will explore:
· the social and historical world of the playwright
· the differences and similarities between the ideas and concerns evident in the playwright’s works
· the style, structure, and purpose of the plays.
You will work through a series of practical tasks, which you will reflect on to show your understanding of the works of the playwright.
You will record your examination of the playwright’s works in a portfolio, and this will be assessed by your teacher. You will use your portfolio to collect your thoughts as you progress though the task. It may be hand-written or typed. It will include video footage and photographs, charts, brainstorms, and annotated scripts.
This assessment task will take place over 6 weeks of in and out-of-class time.
Your teacher will have introduced you to the world of the playwright and examples of their work prior to beginning this task.
You will also be expected to spend time for homework considering the different aspects of the task and making additional notes in your portfolios. Sometimes the best ideas occur in random moments. Keep a record of these and document them in your portfolio.
task:
Examine the context
Work in groups of four. Each person will take one facet of the life and times of the playwright to research (the social, geographical, political, and historical contexts). Find out relevant information about your topic individually (in class time and/or for homework) and present it to your group in a five-minute oral presentation. There will be some overlap in what you have discovered, so discuss the connections and share your notes. Retain this information to use in future consideration of the work of the playwright.
Familiarise yourself with the work of the playwright
Watch performances of a sample of plays or scenes from them, using DVDs or online recordings. As you watch, remember the information you learned in your small group and think about how it relates to the plays. Consider the style and structure of the plays. Note your ideas down in your portfolio.
Your teacher will provide a range of extracts that display key issues concerning the work of the playwright. Using a range of approaches, your teacher will guide you to consider aspects of the writer’s style and structure. Record your findings in your portfolio. Where appropriate, consider how what you find relates to your previous learning.
Hot-seat the playwright
In your groups of four, revisit your research on the life and times of the playwright.
Then each person in your group will take a role: playwright, expert, interviewer, and camera operator. The interviewer will ask the playwright and expert questions about their works. The camera operator will video the interview. (You will include a copy of the recording in your portfolio.)
The interviewer could ask questions on topics such as any contrasts and links between the plays, key impacts of events in the playwright’s lifetime on the plays, and the messages the plays might have for us today.
The person taking the role of the playwright should try to use the playwright’s voice as they answer personal questions about what inspired them. The person playing the expert should use a confident, knowledgeable tone.
Swap roles around so that each person in the group has a turn at each role. Each interviewer should try to draw out new information about the playwright’s works and how this articulates their concerns.
Record your discoveries or further questions in your portfolio after the hot-seating activity. Write in the first person, as yourself. You might find that reviewing your interview will help you to do this. Note that this is not a transcription activity.
Consider the links
Using the information gathered through your process, identify a key theme or message that your playwright communicates through their work.
From two to three plays, choose a key moment that sums up the playwright’s main idea. Sketch a freeze-frame image for each moment. (A freeze-frame image is like a photograph of a key moment, intended to capture an important idea.)
Insert your freeze-frame sketches into your portfolio. Briefly note what the freeze-frame represents (including the scene number and play) and how it shows the theme or message of your playwright. Share your freeze-frames with your small group.
Select the freeze-frames, from one of the group members, that you agree communicate a theme or message most effectively. Use your bodies to make each image.
For your freeze-frames, write your name and the scene number and play on a large piece of card.
Now each group will take turns presenting the freeze-frames with their bodies to the class.
Your teacher will take a photo of each freeze-frame. Make sure that the piece of card identifying you and your scene is visible in your freeze-frame photos. Your teacher will give you copies of your photos to include in your portfolio.
Next to each photo in your portfolio, write down the idea that you were trying to communicate with your freeze-frame.
Make a comparison chart in your portfolio that lists the similarities and differences between your two freeze-frame images. It might be that they have the same the key element of tension and mood but that the use of conventions in one is more sophisticated than in the other. It might be that clear features from a particular theatre form are used in both and that this is influenced by the ideas of the time they were written in. Describe these in detail. Use quotes where appropriate.
Perform a scene
Working in small groups, choose a scene from one of the plays that you agree best reflects the playwright’s style and purpose.
Decide who will take each role in the scene. Be prepared to change groups if there are not enough or too many roles.
Put a photocopy of your group’s scene in your portfolio.
Rehearse your scene, focusing on using drama techniques and following the stage directions. Focus on drawing out the key ideas in the scene. Try and perform in the style the playwright intended rather than interpreting it yourself.
As you rehearse, annotate the script with these details and highlight key quotes that you feel express the playwright’s key ideas.
Perform your scene for the class. Your performance will be recorded on video – include this in your portfolio.
Watch the video of your performance and reflect in your portfolio on how you used techniques to support the playwright’s interpretation of the issues and ideas. How were these articulated in your own performance? How are the playwright’s concerns relevant to the wider world of the play or to us today?
Hand in your portfolio for assessment.
Work in groups of four. Each person will take one facet of the life and times of the playwright to research (the social, geographical, political, and historical contexts). Find out relevant information about your topic individually (in class time and/or for homework) and present it to your group in a five-minute oral presentation. There will be some overlap in what you have discovered, so discuss the connections and share your notes. Retain this information to use in future consideration of the work of the playwright.
Familiarise yourself with the work of the playwright
Watch performances of a sample of plays or scenes from them, using DVDs or online recordings. As you watch, remember the information you learned in your small group and think about how it relates to the plays. Consider the style and structure of the plays. Note your ideas down in your portfolio.
Your teacher will provide a range of extracts that display key issues concerning the work of the playwright. Using a range of approaches, your teacher will guide you to consider aspects of the writer’s style and structure. Record your findings in your portfolio. Where appropriate, consider how what you find relates to your previous learning.
Hot-seat the playwright
In your groups of four, revisit your research on the life and times of the playwright.
Then each person in your group will take a role: playwright, expert, interviewer, and camera operator. The interviewer will ask the playwright and expert questions about their works. The camera operator will video the interview. (You will include a copy of the recording in your portfolio.)
The interviewer could ask questions on topics such as any contrasts and links between the plays, key impacts of events in the playwright’s lifetime on the plays, and the messages the plays might have for us today.
The person taking the role of the playwright should try to use the playwright’s voice as they answer personal questions about what inspired them. The person playing the expert should use a confident, knowledgeable tone.
Swap roles around so that each person in the group has a turn at each role. Each interviewer should try to draw out new information about the playwright’s works and how this articulates their concerns.
Record your discoveries or further questions in your portfolio after the hot-seating activity. Write in the first person, as yourself. You might find that reviewing your interview will help you to do this. Note that this is not a transcription activity.
Consider the links
Using the information gathered through your process, identify a key theme or message that your playwright communicates through their work.
From two to three plays, choose a key moment that sums up the playwright’s main idea. Sketch a freeze-frame image for each moment. (A freeze-frame image is like a photograph of a key moment, intended to capture an important idea.)
Insert your freeze-frame sketches into your portfolio. Briefly note what the freeze-frame represents (including the scene number and play) and how it shows the theme or message of your playwright. Share your freeze-frames with your small group.
Select the freeze-frames, from one of the group members, that you agree communicate a theme or message most effectively. Use your bodies to make each image.
For your freeze-frames, write your name and the scene number and play on a large piece of card.
Now each group will take turns presenting the freeze-frames with their bodies to the class.
Your teacher will take a photo of each freeze-frame. Make sure that the piece of card identifying you and your scene is visible in your freeze-frame photos. Your teacher will give you copies of your photos to include in your portfolio.
Next to each photo in your portfolio, write down the idea that you were trying to communicate with your freeze-frame.
Make a comparison chart in your portfolio that lists the similarities and differences between your two freeze-frame images. It might be that they have the same the key element of tension and mood but that the use of conventions in one is more sophisticated than in the other. It might be that clear features from a particular theatre form are used in both and that this is influenced by the ideas of the time they were written in. Describe these in detail. Use quotes where appropriate.
Perform a scene
Working in small groups, choose a scene from one of the plays that you agree best reflects the playwright’s style and purpose.
Decide who will take each role in the scene. Be prepared to change groups if there are not enough or too many roles.
Put a photocopy of your group’s scene in your portfolio.
Rehearse your scene, focusing on using drama techniques and following the stage directions. Focus on drawing out the key ideas in the scene. Try and perform in the style the playwright intended rather than interpreting it yourself.
As you rehearse, annotate the script with these details and highlight key quotes that you feel express the playwright’s key ideas.
Perform your scene for the class. Your performance will be recorded on video – include this in your portfolio.
Watch the video of your performance and reflect in your portfolio on how you used techniques to support the playwright’s interpretation of the issues and ideas. How were these articulated in your own performance? How are the playwright’s concerns relevant to the wider world of the play or to us today?
Hand in your portfolio for assessment.
prior learning tasks:
Activities such as the following can be used to help you to prepare for the assessment task. They are not, however, part of the assessment.
Meet some plays
· Working with another student or as part of a group, read an example of the playwright’s work aloud. (Most plays were written to be voiced, not to be read silently.) Alternatively, you may view the plays in performance.
· In your groups, summarise the story of the first play, in performance, in two minutes. Repeat this in one minute, and again in thirty seconds. Discuss what key moments and actions in the play remained as you tightened the time frame.
· Repeat this process with the second script.
· Note any ideas, concerns, and themes identified, so that you can refer to them later on in the process.
Explore the world of the playwright
· Research the world of your playwright. Your teacher will provide focus questions relevant to the era in which your playwright lived.
· In your groups, assign specific roles from the first play to each member. Improvise a brief monologue in role, explaining how the social and historical world of the playwright has affected what has happened to you in your play. Present your improvisation to your group and observe others’ improvisations. Make brief notes in your journal about the impact of the playwright’s world on the experience of each character.
· Repeat this process for the second play.
· Choose three or four short quotations from each play that connect the play with the social and historical world of the playwright. Use your journal to reflect on why you have chosen these phrases and what they reveal about the playwright’s world.
Explore the playwright’s ideas and concerns
· Investigate your playwright’s ideas and concerns. Your teacher will provide activities (based around extracts from two or more texts that explore key concepts) to guide your investigation. These may be practical or text based activities but it is assumed that a range of approaches will be considered.
· Consider how these extracts indicate where the ideas and concerns of the playwright are expressed most strongly. (These may connect to the social and historical world of the playwright, but they may be different. Your chosen playwright may be deeply concerned with aspects of personality, for example, or the way different personalities interact.) Note these in your journal for later reference.
· Choose three or four quotations from within the extracts that express the playwright’s ideas and concerns most vividly. Use your journal to reflect on why you have chosen these phrases and what they reveal about the playwright’s ideas and concerns. It is also appropriate to consider extracts from whole texts if you have accessed this information.
· In your groups, select different roles from a range of texts. Hot-seat each other’s characters to explore the playwright’s ideas and concerns. Note in your journal any important ideas and discoveries that are uncovered in the process. Your considerations might include your own hot-seating and the ideas that come from the hot-seating of group members.
Examine the style of the plays
· Research the style of the playwright’s work – your teacher will provide extracts and activities that will guide your research. Consider how your research links to prior knowledge. For example, what impact does the socio-historical context have on the style of the playwright’s work?
· Choose three or four quotations from the given extracts that express the playwright’s style most vividly. Use your journal to reflect on why you have chosen these phrases and what they reveal about the playwright’s style.
Examine the structure of the plays
· The playwright has selected and arranged (structured) the events of their play. Consider how each play is structured.
· In your group or pair, create five freeze-frame images of key moments in the plot of a play. Record these as diagrams in your journal. Add a direct quote from the play beneath each image that sums up that particular moment. Identify the function of those key moments in the play. Label them with the appropriate word to describe their purpose (for example, crisis, climax, denouement). Compare and contrast this with the work of another group and note your findings in your journal.
Step into a character’s shoes
· Choose a suitable character to help you share your discoveries about the connections between the world of the play and the world of the playwright, the ideas and concerns of the playwright, and the style and structure of the plays.
· Choose three or four short phrases spoken by your chosen character that strongly express their opinions about the world of the play.
· Enact the phrases to help you get to know your character. You may use your characters as a vehicle to express your understanding of the work of your playwright to your audience.
Meet some plays
· Working with another student or as part of a group, read an example of the playwright’s work aloud. (Most plays were written to be voiced, not to be read silently.) Alternatively, you may view the plays in performance.
· In your groups, summarise the story of the first play, in performance, in two minutes. Repeat this in one minute, and again in thirty seconds. Discuss what key moments and actions in the play remained as you tightened the time frame.
· Repeat this process with the second script.
· Note any ideas, concerns, and themes identified, so that you can refer to them later on in the process.
Explore the world of the playwright
· Research the world of your playwright. Your teacher will provide focus questions relevant to the era in which your playwright lived.
· In your groups, assign specific roles from the first play to each member. Improvise a brief monologue in role, explaining how the social and historical world of the playwright has affected what has happened to you in your play. Present your improvisation to your group and observe others’ improvisations. Make brief notes in your journal about the impact of the playwright’s world on the experience of each character.
· Repeat this process for the second play.
· Choose three or four short quotations from each play that connect the play with the social and historical world of the playwright. Use your journal to reflect on why you have chosen these phrases and what they reveal about the playwright’s world.
Explore the playwright’s ideas and concerns
· Investigate your playwright’s ideas and concerns. Your teacher will provide activities (based around extracts from two or more texts that explore key concepts) to guide your investigation. These may be practical or text based activities but it is assumed that a range of approaches will be considered.
· Consider how these extracts indicate where the ideas and concerns of the playwright are expressed most strongly. (These may connect to the social and historical world of the playwright, but they may be different. Your chosen playwright may be deeply concerned with aspects of personality, for example, or the way different personalities interact.) Note these in your journal for later reference.
· Choose three or four quotations from within the extracts that express the playwright’s ideas and concerns most vividly. Use your journal to reflect on why you have chosen these phrases and what they reveal about the playwright’s ideas and concerns. It is also appropriate to consider extracts from whole texts if you have accessed this information.
· In your groups, select different roles from a range of texts. Hot-seat each other’s characters to explore the playwright’s ideas and concerns. Note in your journal any important ideas and discoveries that are uncovered in the process. Your considerations might include your own hot-seating and the ideas that come from the hot-seating of group members.
Examine the style of the plays
· Research the style of the playwright’s work – your teacher will provide extracts and activities that will guide your research. Consider how your research links to prior knowledge. For example, what impact does the socio-historical context have on the style of the playwright’s work?
· Choose three or four quotations from the given extracts that express the playwright’s style most vividly. Use your journal to reflect on why you have chosen these phrases and what they reveal about the playwright’s style.
Examine the structure of the plays
· The playwright has selected and arranged (structured) the events of their play. Consider how each play is structured.
· In your group or pair, create five freeze-frame images of key moments in the plot of a play. Record these as diagrams in your journal. Add a direct quote from the play beneath each image that sums up that particular moment. Identify the function of those key moments in the play. Label them with the appropriate word to describe their purpose (for example, crisis, climax, denouement). Compare and contrast this with the work of another group and note your findings in your journal.
Step into a character’s shoes
· Choose a suitable character to help you share your discoveries about the connections between the world of the play and the world of the playwright, the ideas and concerns of the playwright, and the style and structure of the plays.
· Choose three or four short phrases spoken by your chosen character that strongly express their opinions about the world of the play.
· Enact the phrases to help you get to know your character. You may use your characters as a vehicle to express your understanding of the work of your playwright to your audience.
Assessment -
Final grades will be decided using professional judgement based on a holistic examination of the evidence provided against the criteria in the Achievement Standard.
Breakdown of AS2.2 - Playwright study
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