Module Code and Title:        LIT309 20^th Century Drama

Programme:                          BA in English Studies

Credit Value:                          12

Module Tutor:                       Sonam Deki (coordinator), Vanlallawmkimi, Sunil Kumar

General objective: This module aims to introduce students to diverse forms of modern drama written by playwrights from different nations as a reflection of or reaction to the social, political and economic changes of the times. Students will interpret and perform scenes of their choice from the prescribed texts.

Learning outcomes – On completion of the module, students will be able to:

1. Distinguish between the playwrights’ styles of writing.
2. Differentiate various forms of drama such as Absurd, Epic, and Realist.
3. Critically read, analyse and debate on the texts prescribed.
4. Contrast these genres with more conventional tragedies and comedies.
5. Analyse, interpret, direct and perform scenes from the prescribed texts.
6. Identify and explain dramatic techniques used in the prescribed texts.
7. Describe the development of dramatic tradition.

Learning and Teaching Approach:

Pre-requisites: None.

Assessment Approach:

1. Group Performance and Written Report: 35%

Students in groups of 5 - 6 members will be made to select scenes from prescribed texts and will analyse and interpret their chosen scenes. The groups will be given time to direct and rehearse these scenes. Group members will meet the tutor to update on the direction and the process, and set goals if applicable in the pre-performance meetings. The two pre-performance meetings will be evaluated out of 4% and 6% respectively.

The pre-performance meetings will be assessed on the following marking criteria:

Quality of progress update: 60 marks

Preparedness & cooperation of the group: 40 marks

The culmination of the assessment will be a performance of 25 - 30 minutes each followed by a question-answer session for 10 – 15 minutes. The performance will be assessed out of 15%

The performance will be assessed on the following rubric:

Choice of the subject matter & its relevance: 15 marks

Understanding and analysis of the subject/scenes: 30 marks

Dramatisation: 40 marks

Teamwork and cooperation: 15 marks

Individual students will submit a written report reflection on the performance in 400 to 500 words. The written report will be assessed (individual marks) on 10%.

The report will be assessed on the following marking criteria:

Reflection on the process: 35 marks

Reflection on self: 35 marks

Recommendation for improvement: 20 marks

Language and clarity: 10 marks

1. In-class Critical Response Paper: 15%

A short in-class critical response of 350 - 400 words making intertextual connections between texts.

Assessment will be based on the following marking criteria:

Critical analysis and quality of argument: 30 marks

Use of examples from the primary texts: 25 marks

Depth of knowledge and accuracy of understanding: 25 marks

Language use and structure & organisation: 20 marks

1. Quiz on VLE: 10%

A 45 min. quiz will be conducted on VLE quiz platform covering forms and dramatic techniques of the genres of drama.

1. Midterm Examination: 10%

Students will take a written exam of 1.5 hr duration covering topics up to the mid-point of the semester. This assessment is comprehensive and summative in nature, and will comprise structured questions from all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, and will follow the programme’s blue-print for Midterm Examination questions.

1. Semester-End Examination: 30%

Students will take a written exam of 2.5 hr. duration encompassing all the subject matter covered in the semester. This assessment is comprehensive and summative in nature, and will comprise structured questions from all levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, and will follow the programme blue-print for Semester-End Examination questions. 

Overview of assessment approaches and weighting

Pre-requisites: None

Subject matter:

1. Unit I: Epic Theatre: Close reading and analysis of The Good Person of Szechwan by Bertolt Brecht
   • Social and Political causes for the emergence of Epic Theatre
   • Theories of Brechtian Theatre
   • Drama as a didactic form
   • The Alienation Effect
   • Episodic and disconnected montage of scenes
   • Use of music
   • Actors’ detachment from their characters
2. Unit II: Theatre of the Absurd: Close reading and analysis of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
   • Introduction to Absurdism: definition and background
   • Influence of World War II on traditional moral and political values
   • The question of Being
   • Characters in relation to setting
   • Absurdist plot
   • Redundant dialogues
   • Suspense and dramatic tension
3. Unit III: Realism in modern drama: Close reading and analysis of All My Sons by Arthur Miller
   • Socio-political influences on the emergence of Realism in modern drama
   • Realism: likeness to Life
   • Ordinary dialogue: a shift from poetry to prose
   • Mundane setting
   • Stage design

Reading List:

Essential reading

Beckett, S. (2011). Waiting for Godot: A tragicomedy in two acts. Grove Press.

Brecht, B. (2016). The good person of Szechwan. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Brecht, B. (1950). The street scene: A basic model for an epic theatre (J. Willet, Trans.). https://head.hesge.ch/arts-action/IMG/pdf/The_Street_Scene_A_Basic_Model_for_an_Epic_Theatre.pdf

Esslin, M. (2001).  The theatre of the absurd. Vintage Books.

Miller, A. (1997). All my sons. N. Ezekeil, (Ed.). Oxford.

Additional reading

Abbotson, S. (2005). A Contextual study of the causes of paternal conflict in Arthur Miller’s “All my Sons”. Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies (HJEAS), 11(2), 29-44.  http://www.jstor.org/stable/41274317

Evans, I. (1990). A short history of English literature. Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/AShortHistoryOfEnglishLiteratureIforEvans.

Horn, E. (2006). Actors/Agents: Bertolt Brecht and the solitics of secrecy. Grey Room, (24), 38-55. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20442730

Date: June 2022