Course Overview

Major Modern Dramatists provides a survey of major dramatists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It strives to equip the student with a common vocabulary and understanding of the concepts utilized in the study and collaborative work of the theatre. It also explains the role of playwrights who have helped to shape contemporary theatre.

top

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• recognize key theatrical movements and identify major writers in these movements
• define important theatrical terms
• analyze the purpose of a theatre piece and the point-of-view adopted by those who create it
• explain the social, cultural, and political influences on theatre
• navigate and assess Web sites devoted to drama and theatre
• pursue an interest in current professional theatre, including active theatre-going.

top

Required Texts

The main text for this course is Understanding Plays, 3rd edition, by Dr. Milly S. Barranger (Wadsworth, 2004).

Supplementary texts include the following plays:

• The Homecoming by Harold Pinter (Grove Press, 1994)
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard (Grove Press, 1994)
• Buried Child by Sam Shepard (Dramatist's Play Service, 1996)
• Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley (Dramatist's Play Service, 1998)

Please note: While any modern edition of the plays will serve our purposes, for ease of discussion and uniformity in the course, I have selected recommended editions and translations. Should you wish to use another modern edition of these plays, you may do so. You can also check these books out of a university or public library, and some of them may be available online.

All texts are available from Friday Center Books & Gifts. You can order the books online, or you can print out the book order form to fax or mail with payment for texts as indicated on the form.

top

General Web Links

Each lesson will include a list of links that are pertinent to the topic being covered, but you may also find it interesting and useful to visit these Web sites as you work through the course:

• Playmakers Theatre
• Kennedy Center
• Alley Theatre
• Lincoln Center
• Royal Court Theatre
• Royal National Theatre
• Steppenwolf Theatre
• The Goodman Theatre, Chicago

top

Course Requirements

DRAM 284 has several components, as described below:

Discussion Forum—15% of final grade
You will have the opportunity to share your ideas and insights, pose thoughtful questions, and respond to fellow students' opinions regarding theatre in our electronic classroom, the discussion forum.  Each week's lesson includes a set of questions that should guide and jumpstart the discussion.  You will be graded on both the quality and consistency of your responses, and you are expected to engage in discussion at least three times a week.  One posting must be an answer to or comment on one of the discussion questions listed for that week; one must be a question about the reading for that week; and the third must be a response to a question someone else has posted.  Comments should express an awareness of the topic being discussed and a thoughtful understanding of the reading material.  Don't just agree with what someone else has said; add to the discussion in a meaningful way.  Please use the forum to ask questions about the readings, share ideas, form opinions, and work with fellow students throughout the semester.   

You will access the discussion forums in a software package called Blackboard. See Course Mechanics for more information.

Exams—60% of final grade
You will take one midterm exam and a final exam, each of which will count 30% towards your final grade.  The exams will include multiple-choice, true-false, short answer, and short essay questions, and will cover major points of the readings and discussions.   The final exam will be cumulative.  Both exams will be e-mailed to you by your instructor, and you will e-mail your answers to your instructor.  There will be no makeup exams.

Course Paper—25% of final grade
You will prepare one analytical paper of four to six pages in length.  Papers may be submitted electronically.  See Course Paper Guidelines for details.

top

Using e-mail in this course

A few notes on using e-mail to submit your course work:

• All e-mail messages must include the course name, DRAM 284, and your last name in the subject line.
• Please submit your work as a Word attachment.
• If you do not receive a response acknowledging that your instructor has received your assignment within 24 hours of submitting it, resend it, stating that this is your second attempt.
• Run a virus scan each week.
• As much as technology serves us, it also inevitably fails us.  Don't wait until the last minute to do your work.  Back up everything.  Because this is a computer-based class, it is unacceptable to use the lack of a computer or computer failure as an excuse for late work or not participating in the discussion forum.

top

Grading

 Your grade will be assigned based on the following standardized ten-point grading scale:

Paper Grading Policies

• An A paper features exceptional insights and flawless presentation.   It reflects original thinking and superior effort.  It is well structured, clear, coherent, excellently supported through appropriate examples, and completely free of grammar and usage errors.
• A B paper features superior insights and presentation.  It reflects a thoughtful, understanding grasp of its subject.  It is reasonably structured, well supported, and competently written, with virtually no stylistic errors.
• A C paper features average effort and execution.  It lacks clear focus and organization, its ideas are weak and/or uninteresting, there is inadequate support, and it contains distracting grammar and usage errors.
• A D paper reflects substandard work.  It has no identifiable purpose, fails to provide the significance of its thesis, is poorly written, and contains many technical errors.
• An F paper reflects plagiarized or unacceptable, fatally flawed work.

top

Course Mechanics

Blackboard

Course discussion forums are accessed through a software package called Blackboard, and you will need to login to Blackboard using a unique identifier known as your UNC Onyen (Only Name You'll Ever Need) and Onyen password.

There is a link to the Blackboard site in the gray navigation bar at the top of every page in this course. Click on that link, and then use your Onyen to log in to Blackboard. Click on the "DRAM 284" link, and you will see navigation buttons on the left taking you to the forums.

If you experience problems accessing Blackboard, this is what you should do:

• If you do not already have a UNC Onyen, go to the Onyen Web site and follow the instructions for creating an Onyen.

• If you have an Onyen but have forgotten it (or the password), visit the Onyen Web site.

• If you have your Onyen but can't log in to Blackboard, contact Janice Durham at the Friday Center.

• If you can log in to Blackboard but can't find this course listed, contact Janice Durham at the Friday Center.

• If you can't locate an exam or discussion forum in Blackboard, contact the Instructional Designer.

• If you have other technical problems while using Blackboard, contact Blackboard Help (use the Help button in Blackboard, or call 919-962-HELP).

Library Services and Resources (including e-reserves)

Students enrolled in Carolina Courses Online have access to the UNC Library System. Visit Distance Education Library Services to access a wide array of online services and resources including e-reserves, online databases, online journals, online books, and live help with research and library access.

Most online resources require you to log in with your Onyen and password. If you have any trouble finding the resource that you need or logging in to a resource, you can contact the library through the contact information at Distance Education Library Services. You can chat live about your problem, or send an e-mail to request assistance.

E-mail

E-mails regarding the course will go to your UNC Onyen e-mail address (the one that appears when you post to the discussion forum). Off-campus users can access their UNC mail using Webmail. You can have your Onyen e-mail forwarded to a different e-mail address by clicking “Forward email” at the Onyen Web site. Please also notify Janice Durham at the Friday Center of the change.

If you use a filter on your e-mail account, you are responsible for ensuring that it does not prevent you from receiving messages from me, the course listserv, or Friday Center staff.

We strongly recommend that you use your UNC e-mail account for all e-mails regarding your course. Hotmail users should be aware that Hotmail will block messages sent from within Blackboard because Blackboard uses “blind carbon copy” to protect privacy. If you forward your mail to a commercial e-mail service provider (yahoo.com or msn.com, for example), messages from your instructor, Friday Center staff, or other students may be delayed because these service providers sometimes place temporary blocks on messages originating from universities. If you are using a commercial e-mail service provider, the e-mail links in this course may not work for you.

Submitting Assignments

It is extremely important for you to save copies of any work you send to your instructor via e-mail. If your instructor doesn't receive your work, you must have a duplicate copy, indicating the date sent, to prove that you submitted the assignment on time. It is your responsibility to maintain copies of your sent e-mails, as there is no way to guarantee that any e-mail message will be delivered.

Please check your e-mail software to see how it manages sent and saved messages. Some software automatically deletes messages one month after they have been sent; others only save messages if they are filed in folders; others save messages received but not those sent. You may need to send yourself a copy of your e-mailed assignment at the same time you send it to your instructor, or you may need to print a copy of the e-mail message and any attachments to keep in your paper files. No matter how your system works, make sure you know how to save a copy of all work that you submit to your instructor and that you save the copy for several months beyond the end of the course.

Other Questions

Contact your instructor with questions regarding the content of the course and your progress. There is an e-mail link to your instructor at the top of every lesson page. Please include "DRAM 284" in the subject line of your e-mail.

Contact the instructional designer at the Friday Center about problems with this Web site, including bad links.

If you have any logistical questions as you work through the course (enrollment, credits, withdrawal, and so on), contact the Student Services staff at the Friday Center for Continuing Education (phone 919-962-1134 or 800-862-5669)

top

Lesson Schedule

top

Honor Code

Remember that as a student of UNC-Chapel Hill, you are bound by the University's Honor Code, which states that "It shall be the responsibility of every student at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to obey and support the enforcement of the Honor Code, which prohibits lying, cheating, or stealing when these actions involve academic processes or University students or academic personnel acting in an official capacity."

All graded academic work must include a pledge comprised of the following:   "No unauthorized assistance has been received or given in the completion of this work."  An especially serious Honor Code violation is plagiarism.  If you have questions, please consult your instructor.

top

Lesson 1