First Draft Due: Monday, Oct 31, 2022, 11:59 p.m. 

Objective: To offer careful observations and thoughtful analysis, through clear, detailed, well-organized writing about a performance or theatre production of your choice.

I. Instructions

• Choose a performance or theatre production to attend in person. If you can’t attend a performance in person, speak with your section leader, see recommendations below for online performances, and receive approval from your discussion section leader beforehand. You are strongly encouraged to see the Theatre Department production of Sweat.
• Based upon your viewing or attending experience, write a well-organized, well-written paper, with a clear thesis and development of ideas, supported by examples, in which you address the following: What is interesting or remarkable about the performance or production in its creation of a physical world of the play in front of you and why? What are the choices made in the performance or production in terms of acting, design, directing, and/or other elements that you find interesting or remarkable and why? How do these choices influence your understanding and interpretation of the play?
• Describe and analyze concrete examples (visual or aural elements, acting, directing etc.) from the performance or production to support your answers. Provide descriptions of the examples that will help the reader see the physical world of the play created by the performance or production.
• Avoid plot summary; instead, prioritize your own observations and analyses and use the plot developments as support or to contextualize the moments in the play that you describe. 

II. Length and Format

• 3-4 pages (900–1000 words) Provide word count at the end of the essay.
• Double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font
• Citation styles (when citing any sources): Either the MLA or Chicago style

III. Submission

• Save your assignment as one file, in the Microsoft Word format.
• Submit the assignment via Commons.

V. Writing Assistance: 

• Hunter’s Reading and Writing Center
• See also the materials in the Writing About Theatre Resources site on the lecture class Blackboard page.

VI. Grading Rubric

• Analyses/Focus (40%)

–Does the writer provide a focus/thesis and critical analyses of the performance or production?

–Does the writer provide a clear subject of focus throughout? Does the writer analyze, (not summarize), the subject through interesting or remarkable examples?

• Examples/Discussions (40%)

 –Does the writer draw on specific examples from the performance or production in support of their discussions?

–Does the writer demonstrate thoughtfulness in the discussions of the examples?

• Structure/Organization (10%)

–Is the paper easy to follow? Is there a clear progression of ideas? 

–Does the writer give a clear introduction and conclusion to their discussion?

• Citation and Editing (10%)

–Are all quotes attributed and sources acknowledged according to the chosen citation style?

–Has the writer made efforts to ensure the paper is grammatically correct and free of typos?