2-Person Play Draft, Day 2; 'Night Mother: Day 3 (conclusion)

Lab: (period 1)

Please continue writing your 2-person monologue play draft. Choose a monologue you have already written and place it either in the beginning, middle, or end of your scene. Create a second character and have that character enter before, just after, or during the monologue. Build your short play with a conflict between the two characters.

Refer to the handout for play script format if you need to. Formatting counts.

This scene will be due Monday, Oct. 3 at the end of our lab time.

If you haven't done so yet, read about Marsha Norman. 'Night Mother by Marsha Norman

Examine the following as we read:

• Structural Unity: all parts of the plot (exposition, rising action, turning point, climax, resolution, etc.) should work and fit together. Explain how the playwright has achieved structural unity in this play. How does exposition turn to rising action? How does the turning point (the play's crisis or a character's dark moment) lead to our climax? How does the playwright resolve the action of the play? How effectively do you feel this was done? Remember that the Inciting Incident is really part of the structural unity of the play: the point of attack, the inciting incident forces the protagonist into the action of the play's plot. What inciting incident occurs in the early scenes of the play? Identify when and what page this occurs on.
• Major Dramatic Question (MDQ): the hook that keeps an audience interested in a play; a dramatic question that a reader/viewer wants to be answered. What is the MDQ for this play?
• Major decision (x2): A decision a character makes in the plot that creates the turning point for their character. Choose either Jessie or Mama. What is the major decision for this character?
• The dark moment/crisis: the lowest moment of a character's struggle--when all the world seems lost, the fight unbeatable, the "darkest hour before dawn" -- a stunning reversal of fortune and sense of failure. Examining Mama's character, what moment would you say is her dark moment or crisis? 
• Enlightenment: When the protagonist understands how to defeat the antagonist. A revelation that begins the movement toward a climax. Does this play have an enlightenment? Which character(s) are involved in this enlightenment if it exists? If it does NOT exist, who might the author intend to have the "enlightenment"?
• Catharsis: Discuss the ending of this play with your partner. How did it affect you? If it did not affect you, why not? 
• Costumes/props: how are costumes and props used in the play. Which props become important? Why?

We will complete 'Night Mother today & discuss the play.

HOMEWORK: Complete the short play handouts.