How to Cultivate a Practice of Generating Play Ideas (article)
- What are some topics or questions that you worry about (for yourself, your family, your best friend, etc.?)
- What are some worries/questions you have for the world or society?
- What are some problems we are wrestling with as a society currently?
- What are the stories (or plays) that have stuck with me? Why did they work to move/interest me? How do these stories work (plot, character, style, theme, conflict, diction/language, setting, etc.)
- What stories haven't I seen on stage? How might I tell that story?
356 Controversial Speech and Writing Ideas (article/premises)
200+Story Ideas...and how to3 come up with your own (article/prompts)
Please read the following article: Why Writers Don't Write (article); and, after reading, in the COMMENT section of this blog identify 1 reason why you write and 1 reason why you don't write.
Greek Theater
Crash Course Theater: Thespis, Athens, & the Origin of Theater #2
Aristotle’s Poetics (circa 330 B.C.E.)
Here's a 20 point summary of the first established literary critic's masterpiece "The Poetics" by Aristotle.
1. People like to imitate and learn.
2. Arts (Epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, dithyrambic poetry, flute-playing, lyre playing) are all modes of imitation. Just as color and form are used by artists, the voice, language, and harmony are used singularly or in combination. IE. Theatrical arts are REPRESENTATIVE of reality, not reality in and of themselves.
3. Objects of imitation should be above our common ilk; characters in a play/subject matter should be of high quality (and scope).
4. Poetry soon broke into two parts: tragedy/comedy. Serious poets would write about serious subjects; Humorous poets would write about frivolous and happy subjects.
5. Tragedy originated out of the dithyramb (choral ode); Comedy out of phallic songs.
6. Aeschylus limited his chorus, introduced the “second” actor, and made the dialogue take the leading part of the play.
7. Sophocles introduced the third actor.
8. As tragedy deals with noble subjects, comedy imitates men worse than average.
9. Tragedy is different from epic (although both are serious) in length, in one kind of verse (narrative form); epic includes tragedy, but tragedy does not necessarily include epic.
10. Aristotle’s six parts of a play:
Key Words to Know:a. Plot11. Plays should have a beginning, middle, end
b. Character
c. Theme (Idea)
d. Spectacle
e. Melody
f. Language (diction)
12. Plays should not include so much as to bore, or too little
13. It is better in a tragedy for a good person to come to ruin, rather than a bad person
14. It is better to create catharsis from language and plot, rather than spectacle
15. Characters should have a discovery (anagnorisis) that leads to a turning point or crisis/climax (peripety) (plural peripeties)
16. The chorus should act together as a “character” and integral to the whole
17. Characters should act according to verisimilitude (appearance of reality).
18. Diction should be clear, correct, poetic, but not inessential.
19. Plot should be made up of probable events
20. The poet, being an imitator (like a painter) must represent things either as they are, or as they are said to be, or as they ought to be – which is accomplished by skillful use of language to create a catharsis (emotional purging) in the viewer of a play.
- Hamartia (fatal or tragic flaw)
- Catharsis
- Peripety
- Deus Ex Machina
- Comedy
- Tragedy
- Dithyramb
Play Reading: Begin reading Antigone by Sophocles. Sign up for a role on the role sheet. Let's read the introduction and then begin the play itself. As we read, please take notes/analyze the play using Aristotle's 20 points. Note key words/concepts.
HOMEWORK: None. Please bring your scripts back with you to next class.
HOMEWORK: None. Please bring your scripts back with you to next class.
13 comments:
Why I Write: I write because I like putting ideas down. If I really like an idea, I'll use it for my story and I feel proud when I develop them into a finished piece. I can look back at these stories and think about how that idea started small, but I got over writer's block and finished them.
Why I Don't Write: I never have time to write on my leisure time and I do not thoroughly flesh out stories because of school. I have too much homework and classes to keep up with that I can't spend too much time on writing unless I don't care about sleep.
Why I Write: I write because its fun. It may be simple but when I actually sit down and I have an idea that I think is interesting or funny, I can go on and on. (Eventually I'll get lazy and won't finish it.) Writing is also sort of my way of putting down ideas and themes and concepts. I get to write/talk about things that are happening. Writing also makes me feel like I'm actually smart.
Why I Don't: Sometimes its too time consuming, and I don't want to sit down and write it. Also, I'm lazy. Also, i'll start something and then throw it out because I feel like its trash.
Why I Write: I write because its fun. It sounds like too simple of an answer but I feel like I cant exactly identify a very specific reason for writing other than the fact that I have fun while doing so.
Why I Don't Write: Sometimes, depending on the genre, I have a hard time finding what I want to write. Its not specifically a lack of ideas but more so not knowing where to start with my ideas and writing. Most times I can make it work but with some genres I can never find anything worth writing for.
Why I write..
I write to help organize my mind. When I don't know how to say something, or I'm not sure what I'm feeling I'll write it down. Then somehow it turns into an actual piece.
Why I don't..
I typically don't write because I'm so busy. I have so many other things to be doing, so when I get a break from those I want to sleep, or watch tv, in other words be lazy. Writing creatively gets put to the back burner because it's so time consuming.
One reason that I write is to express my emotions, thoughts, feelings, and ideas, more specifically the one's that are unsaid.
One reason that I do not write is because of my feeling that my ideas are not good enough or interesting enough, or when I have writers block and can't come up with good concepts to write about.
Why I write?- I write because it gives me the world I want, I have the power to put whatever I want into the world. I choose who the person is, I decide what color their eyes and hair will be specifically for my story. I give me power
Why I don't write- the concept of such power sometimes scare me. I don't want to hold such power because I won't always want to have that power. Sometimes it's better to play it safe and have someone else do that. Why I won't write, sometimes the answer is used to the question why I do write; it holds power.
Why I Write- I write simply to tell a story. rather it document social issue, historical issues,or my very life. I honestly just get satisfaction from piecing the story together in my mind.
Why I Don't Write- I don't write because often I'm just written out. When I'm home I get an idea for a play or a story and tell myself "I'll write it later." I find myself mentally exhausted from the work load I have with school. Not just projects in CW but also essay's I write in other classes.
The reason why I write is because I want to and it's something to do when I'm bored. The reason why I don't write is because I hate having to force ideas onto paper.
Why I Write: I write because it is a way to express my feelings and emotions. I have yet to find a better way to release my inner thoughts and emotions because life is difficult and complex, and its hard to let go of what's holding us back.
Why I Don't Write: I don't write because I get writer's block and all of my complex thoughts jumble together, and it makes it hard to formulate my thoughts into one. Therefore, my mind becomes an intricate puzzle that is hard to solve.
I write because I have to and I'll fail if I don't, because it's fun and because I love it and I don't write because I'm unmotivated or don't want to do anything.
Why I Write: I write to convey my ideas. To take the thoughts out of my head and bring them to life.
Why I Don't Write: I struggle to find the time to put these thoughts on paper. I'll have entire story lines ready but can't formulate them.
I write mainly because it is required of me, otherwise, it is to organize and archive my thoughts, emotions, opinions, and plans.
I don't write mainly because there are other things I need to do, and when I am not occupied with homework, eating, sleeping, and other necessities, I tend to find something more interesting and engaging than writing out of my own desire, especially considering that I spend more than 10 hours a day writing.
I write because it helps me express my emotions in a more specific way, sometimes I don't really understand how I'm feeling until I really sit down and write my feelings out. I don't write because I want to make a living with it, I don't see myself becoming an author or journalist.
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