Week 1 (Feb. 1)

- General Note: Remember that you need to either PRINT online texts or have some way (Kindle? iPad? Laptop?) to view your electronic copy in class.

• Day 1: No Class Yet
• Day 2: Sill no class. Ugh. Boring.
• Day 3: Course introduction. Talk about assignments, research philosophy, and drama as a literary form. Talk about reading plays and how that's different from reading most other sorts of things assigned in English courses. Talk about picking research subjects.

Week 2 (Feb. 4, 6, and 8)

- Due Monday: Self intro on course wiki (link above) before class.
- Due Friday: Sign up for research subject/playwright (on wiki) before Friday's class. (Sign up on the wiki no earlier than Thursday at 7:00 AM.)

- We'll be taking about research and writing tactics a little bit every day this week.

**Remember / Please Note**

• Day 1: Trifles (Susan Glaspell, 1916) + Watt and Richardson on Am Drama, 1900-1950 (@Bb) + Read this from About.com (I know!) and, at Bb, the cheesy "Burr and Burton" pdf. You might (not required) also scan this, on blocking and movement: Make sure you understand basic stage directions and positions.
  
• Day 2: Waiting for Lefty (Clifford Odets, 1935) + Skim "Enter Up Center, Smiling Helpfully..." (Catron, 1999) + First Page of Streetcar (@Bb).
• Day 3: You Can't Take It With You, Act 1 (Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, 1936) 

Week 3 (Feb. 11, 13, and 15)

- Due Friday at 5:00: Proof/Justification of ILL Requests (Inquiry Project)
- Due Friday at 5:00: Critical Response #1 (Any Play Up To/Including Salesman)

It would be good to do an early draft of your response this week in time to take it to the Composition Commons for a conference about structure and evidence.

• Day 1: You Can't Take It With You, Act 2 (Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, 1936)
• Day 2: Death of a Salesman, Act 1 (Arthur Miller, 1949)
• Day 3: Death of a Salesman, Act 2

Week 4 (Feb. 18 and 20; No Friday Class)

- Don't Just Sit There: Keep Working on Your Inquiry Research (Inquiry Project)

• Day 1: Long Day's Journey Into Night, Acts 1-2 (Eugene O'Neill, 1941/42)
• <<Reading O'Neil is more like reading a thick novel than any playwright we've read so far (or will read). Plan/schedule accordingly.>>
• Day 2: Long Day's Journey Into Night, Acts 3-4
• Day 3: No Class (Faculty Development Day)

Week 5 (Feb. 25 and 27, Mar. 1)

- Don't Just Sit There: Keep Working on Your Inquiry Research (Inquiry Project)

- Due Friday at 5:00: Substantial Research Update Using Screencast-o-Matic (Inquiry Project)

• Day 1: A Streetcar Named Desire, Scenes 1-6 (Tennessee Williams, 1947)
• Day 2: A Streetcar Named Desire, Scenes 7 - 11)
• Day 3: Readings on the Absurd: "Which Theatre is the Absurd One?" (Edward Albee, 1962) + "The Theatre of the Absurd" (Martin Eslin, 1960) (Both in Bb)

Week 6 (Mar. 4, 6, and 8)

- Due Friday at 5:00: Critical Response 2

• This Weekend
    Fri. & Sat. (7:30 pm)
  Sun. (2 pm)
  
  Whitworth Theatre Presents Almost, Maine.
• Day 1: The Zoo Story (1959) and The American Dream (1961) (Edward Albee)
  
• Day 2: Essays + Pickling (1990) (Suzan-Lori Parks) (@Bb)
• Day 3: Almost, Maine ( John Cariani, 2004)
• <<You're required to see Almost, Maine (2004) (John Cariani) this weekend.>>

Week 7 (Mar. 11, 13, and 15)

- Midterm Exam is Friday!

- Due Friday at 5:00, Extensions Negotiable with Good Reasons: Inquiry Project

• Day 1: Exam Prep / Almost, Maine Performance Discussion
• Day 2: Exam Prep / Inquiry Project In-Class Work Day
• Day 3: Midterm Exam

Week 8 (Mar. 18, 20, and 22)

- Due Before Break: Questions & Comments Journal, Part 1

• Day 1: The Tooth of Crime (Sam Shepard, 1972) 
• Day 2: True West (Sam Shepard, 1980)
• Day 3: Watch: Sinise/Malkovich True West (Dir. Allan A. Goldstein, 1984)
• <<Don't lose the thread over break! We've got The Odd Couple (which is funny travel reading!) due next Wednesday, and two important writing deadlines Friday after break.>>
• <<But don't come to school next week! It's vacation time!>>

Week 9 (Apr. 1, 3, and 5)

- Due Friday at 5:00: Scene Analysis

- Due Friday at 5:00: Initial Claim/Project Idea (Critical Analysis)

• Day 1: Writing Prep Day (In Class)
• Day 2: The Odd Couple (Neil Simon, 1965)
• Day 3: F.O.B. (David Henry Hwang, 1980)

Week 10 (April, 8, 10, and 12)

- Get Cracking on your Middle Paragraphs...

• Day 1: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Act 1 (August Wilson, 1982)
• Day 2: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Act 2
• Day 3: Anna Deavere Smith, Excerpts:
  (1) "War Zone" section of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (1994) (@Bb)
  (2) Anna Deavere Smith Video from TED: "Writer and actor Anna Deavere Smith gives life to author Studs Terkel, convict Paulette Jenkins, a Korean shopkeeper and a bull rider, excerpts from her solo show On the Road: A Search for American Character."
• <<Look out for the Middle Paragraph assignment!>>

Week 11 (April 15 and 17 + Easter Break)

- Due Wednesday @5: Middle Paragraphs (Critical Analysis)

- Due Friday at Midnight: Mid Paragraph Critiques (Critical Analysis)

• Day 1: Zoot Suit  (Read it All) (Luis Valdez, 1979). Some interesting background here (10 min. video).
• Day 2: Zoot Suit: Scenes from the Film... (Dir. Luis Valdez, 1981)
• Day 3: No Class (Easter Break)

Week 12 (Easter Break + Apr. 24 and 26)

- Any Revised Critical Responses Due by Friday at 5:00

• Day 1: No Class (Easter Break)
• Day 2: Intimate Apparel (Lynn Nottage, 2003)
• Day 3: Fabulation (Lynn Nottage, 2004)

Week 13 (April 29, May 1 and 3)

- Due Friday @5:00: Critical Analysis (DIGITALLY) +

- Due Friday @5:00: Questions & Comments Journal, Part 2

• Day 1: Topdog/Underdog, Scenes 1-4 (Suzan-Lori Parks, 2001)
• Day 2: Topdog/Underdog, to end
• Day 3: The Sisters Rosensweig, all (Wendy Wasserstein, 1992)

Week 14 (May 6, 8, and 10) (The Blockbuster Week of Very Recent Plays)

- Due Monday at 5:00: Habeas Corpus reflection (Final part of Critical Analysis)

- Due Friday at 5:00: Reflective Reading Response, Including Commentary on at Least One Play Assigned Since the Midterm.

• Day 1: 4.000 Miles (Amy Herzog, 2011)
• Day 2: Eurydice (Sarah Ruhl, 2003) 
• Day 3: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Rajiv Joseph, 2009) Also: Revised Critical Responses Due, if you choose to do them.

Week 15 (May 13 + Exam)

• Day 1: Brilliantly well-informed class discussion of what it takes to be a super-sharp reader of plays. Homework: Bring a well-considered list of five principles that are useful/important for readers of drama. High scores will go to lists that show real thought and clarity, but don't go crazy writing long paragraphs for each point. I'm looking for five well selected and well formed principles, each expressed in 1-3 good sentences. 20 quiz points.
• EXAM 2: 3:30-5:30, Thursday, May 16