Mid-term Take-home Test - March 2022 General Instructions: 1) This Test is wo

                                                                                    Mid-term Take-home Test - March 2022

General Instructions:

1)  This Test is worth 35% of your final grade in the course.

2)  This Test is due back on Tuesday, 15 March 2022 by 9:00 pm. Please submit your answers in-person in-class – if we have an in-person class that day - or as an attachment to an e-mail. The Mid-term may only be submitted after the due date if you have experienced a debilitating medical situation during the period from the 11th of March 2022 until the 16th of March 2022. In such a case the maximum extension you can receive is until Friday the 18th of March at 9:00 pm, since this is a test. If you cannot make the 18th of March deadline for the Mid-term, then you can write a term paper instead. You must contact me to inform me if and why your Mid-term will be submitted by March 18th rather than March 16th. This must be done before the March 16th deadline.

3)  The Mid-term should be word-processed and double-spaced. Submit your answers in standard black tone. Do not change to a lighter grey tone for quotations or any other part of your answer as these print out very pale or not at all. Also, please submit your answers in Microsoft Word or as a PDF.

4)  Note that you have some choices as to which questions on the test you may choose to answer.   Read the choices carefully before deciding. Be sure to indicate clearly the Section and the question number(s) for each question you answer.

5)  I recommend that you spend no longer than six (6) hours working on the test. I am suggesting six hours since this is an open book test and you will likely be consulting your texts, notes, and critical articles.

Academic Integrity Contract

This is an open book test, so you are allowed to consult and cite your texts and your notes. It also means you are responsible for understanding and avoiding academic misconduct like plagiarism, cheating, inappropriate collaboration, duplicate submission, and personation [having someone else write the test for you]. Please consult the University of Manitoba’s webpage that describes academic misconduct and how to avoid it before submitting your responses. By submitting my responses to the test questions, I agree that I have completed the test on my own and that it represents my own work. I understand that “As members of the University Community, students have an obligation to act with academic integrity. Any student who engages in Academic Misconduct in relation to a University Matter will be subject to discipline” (2.4 Student Academic Misconduct Procedure).

Special Note: You must choose between Option A and Option B, explained below, and your choice will determine which Sections of the test you will answer. Be sure to indicate the number of each section and the number of each question that you answer.

Option A        Do all three sections of the test. In this case Section 1 is worth 10%, Section 2 is worth 12% and Section 3 is worth 13%. Note that if you choose this option you must define and discuss three (3) items in Section 2.

Option B        Skip Section 1 of the test. Do Sections 2 and 3 of the test. In this case Section 2 is worth 20% and Section 3 is worth 15%. Note that if you choose this option you must define and discuss five (5) items in Section 2, not just three (3).

______________________________________________________________________________

Section 1         Remember, if you are doing Option A then this section is worth 10 marks. Your answer should be approximately 500-750 words. If you are doing Option B then you do not do this section.

Choose one (1) of the following questions and answer in a well-organized essay.

1.  Choose either Tragicomedy or Theatre of the Absurd. Discuss the distinctive characteristics of the form of comedy you have chosen, as discussed in class in the first few weeks of the term.

2.  Choose one of the articles from the list of “Required Reading” other than the article you have chosen for the “Analytical Review” assignment. Discuss the article, following the same outline that you are using for the “Analytical Review” assignment but omit section four, the section in which you discuss what you learned from the article.

Section 2         You must do this section!

Option A: The section is worth 12%. Define and discuss three (3) of the following. Provide a one or two paragraph answer of approximately 300-500 words for each answer.

Option B: The section is worth 20%. Define and discuss five (5) of the following. Provide a one or two paragraph answer of approximately 275-500 words for each answer.

Be sure to discuss the significance of the theory, concept or person in relation to stage comedy as applicable. Since this is a take-home test the identification component of the question is a very minor part of your answer. I will be especially concerned with the following: 1) If the item is a character you should identify the play in which the character appears, then discuss the key characteristics of that character and the ways in which that character is significant in the action of

the play and in the development of its themes. 2) If the item is a quotation from a play, first

identify the play in which the line(s) occur, the character who is speaking and those to whom the lines are spoken. Then - and this is what is especially important - discuss the thematic/dramatic significance of the lines and their importance to the action of the play. 3) If the item is a director, actor or scholar, be sure to identify the significance of that person as discussed in class lectures. 4) If the item is a term, define or explain the term and then discuss how the term applies to a specific work on the reading list for the course.  

1.  Cleante

2.  “Kill Claudio.”

3.  Comedy of Manners

4.  Decorum

5.  Satire

6.  Maggie Steed

7.  William Poel

8.  Georgian comedy

9.  John Gielgud 

Section 3         You must do this section!

                        If you are doing Option A, then this section is worth 13%. If you are doing                                  Option B then this section is worth 15%.  

Choose one (1) of the following questions and answer in a well-organized essay of approximately 900-1400 words.

1. Choose one of the plays studied thus far in the course. Give an account of two (2) different  directorial interpretations of this play or two different performance interpretations of a major role that have occurred in the history of its performance. Try to be as detailed as possible in your response. You should discuss the ways in which these interpretations differ from one another and, if applicable, any points on which there was a similarity of interpretation. At the beginning of your essay be as clear as possible in identifying the interpretations you will be discussing by indicating the approximate date of each production and the director or leading actor with which each interpretation is associated.  Be sure to quote the dramatic text of the play and link your discussion to specific moments in the text. If you prefer to discuss the interpretation of one key scene

1. continued

in your chosen play you may do so, but you must be very specific regarding the

interpretation of individual lines.

2.  Choose one of the plays studied thus far in the course. Give a very detailed account of the performance of a major role within the play.  Then discuss whether you agree with this interpretation, disagree with it or agree with some aspects of the interpretation, but not all. Be sure to discuss why you agree or disagree with the interpretation. In providing your account of the interpretation you should go into greater detail than if you were answering Question 1, above. In discussing why you agree or disagree with the interpretation be sure to cite textual evidence from the play that you feel supports your position.

3.  Discuss the major characteristics of comedy, as discussed in the first few weeks of class OR discuss major techniques of comedy as discussed in the first few weeks of class.