KRISTA D. PRICE

DAYS 1-2: Read a Play (Exposition)

*Discussed the requirements for attending the musical and writing a Review/Critique of the production and also went over Review (Summative) assignment with Ms. Price.  For more/specific information on this Assignment and how to complete it, click HERE.

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1.)  Reminder:  Be sure you've completed the last 2 questions (post-performance) on Reflection #4 (in Google Classroom Assignment:  REFLECTION #4)

 

2.) Watched Ira Glass on Storytelling and discussed the difference (in creative work) between quitting and failure.

 

3.)   Journaled in response to the following questions: 

(in Google Classroom PROCESS JOURNAL; Title: Thinking creatively")

• What have you learned about thinking creatively as a result of creating original scenes this unit?

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4.) Discussed:  If you switched from performing an ORIGINAL CONCEPT/IDEA to performing a SCRIPT, what would be the differences? 

• Discussed what a script LOOKS like and what it includes (character's name and what he/she says).  Discussed how scripts aren't meant to be read...they're meant to be SEEN.

• Discussed ways to better use your imagination while reading a script.

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5.) Learned about playwright Neil Simon and his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Lost in Yonkers. 

• If absent, just know that Neil Simon is a well-known 20th century playwright who wrote many plays and screenplays.  Many of his plays were influenced by where he grew up (New York) and when he grew up (during/after the Great Depression). 

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6.) Discussed  the "world of the play" that we will be reading together in class (Yonkers, New York, 1942) and the ways the play's characters may be influenced by that "world".

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7.) Read Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon.  If absent you MUST read what we read together in class! (see below) 

Click the links below to read the Act I, Scene 1...

• Act I, Scene1, pgs 3-21 Exposition = the beginning of the play where we learn about the characters and their relationships to eachother

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DAY 3: Read a Play (Exposition / Conflict / Build)

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1.) Reviewed  the "world of the play" that we are reading in class (Yonkers, New York, 1942) and the character relationships established in the play's exposition.

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2.) Learned about Freytag's Pyramid:  conflict & build ​

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3.) Read Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon together as a class. 

• (already read) Act I, Scene1, pgs 3-21 Exposition = the beginning of the play where we learn about the characters and their relationship to eachother

• Act I, Scene 1, pgs 21-26 Conflict = the moment that "unlocks" the plot/rising action of the play.  The first big conflict often drives the storyline of the play.

• Act I, Scene 1 - pgs 26-39 Build = the "rising action" in the story (in theatre it's called "build")

• Act I, Scene 2-4, pgs 40-63 (Build)  - Today we read to the end of Act 1 (through pg 63). - If absent, start reading wherever you left off when you were last in class, and read THROUGH pg 63 before next class.  If absent, you MUST read (on your own) what we read in class.

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DAY 4:  Read a Play (Build) 

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1.) Reviewed:  Plot terms & definitions (inciting incident, exposition, conflict, build, crisis, climax, denouement)  If absent, watch Plot video HERE.

• Inciting Incident = the event/incident that happens BEFORE the play/story/plot starts that incites the "telling" of the story.  (the reason for the story being told)

• Exposition = the beginning of the play where we learn about the characters and their relationships to eachother

• Conflict = the first "significant event" in a story that "unlocks the plot"  (there will be MANY conflicts in most stories, but the first significant one typically is introduced as the main conflict that needs to be resolved before the story ends

• Build = the "rising action" of the play (in theatre, this rising action in a scene or story is called "build")

• Crisis = a turning point in the plot (often characters shift/change after the crisis)

• Climax = the highest point of intensity in the story

• Denouement = the "falling action" - should happen relatively quickly in order to keep audience's attention

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2.) Read the play Lost in Yonkers by Neil Simon as a class.

• Act II, Scene 1-2, pgs 64-95 (Build)  

• Act II, Scene 2, pgs 96-103 (Crisis) 

• Act II, Scene 3, pgs 104-112 (Build After Crisis)- If absent, start reading wherever you left off when you were last in class, and read THROUGH pg 110 before next class.  If absent, you MUST read (on your own) what we read in class.

 

 

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