Ms. O. Johnson
The High School for Contemporary
Arts
Drama & English Departments
WEB QUEST THEME:
Living and Dying the American Dream: Resurrecting
Introduction
These are difficult times. There are many of us who read and hear the news with dismay, feeling that the American Dream, our fabulous image of freedom and tolerance, is fading away. As we see confused reports of religious intolerance, homophobia, racial profiling, and gross mishandling of criminal investigations, it is hard to maintain a belief in the wisdom of our leaders.
Yet,
in times of despair, populations tend to become apathetic. Paradoxically, at a time when most change is
needed it is more difficult to move the population. As we now face the
presidential election, it is essential that people reclaim their constitutional
rights.
Sometime it takes the thunderbolt of a great artist to enflame the passions that will promote change. Historically, in times of turmoil and doubt, it is the voice of the artist that puts events in perspective, enabling us to re-examine the problems in which we seem so inextricably bound. Through canvases, photographs, pieces of music, works of fact and fiction, artists guide us to reframe our ideas. By working from hearts to minds, artists are uniquely situated to facilitate change.
Tony Kushner is one of our most prolific American
playwrights. Since winning the Pulitzer
Prize for his monumental work Angels in
America, he continues to captivate theatregoers with plays that challenge
our notion of the American dream. Even
at his darkest, he taps our most deeply human instincts, bringing us to a new
understanding of what it means to be free.
Through these works, we can re-evaluate how far we have strayed from
TASK
You
will become familiar with three major works by the American playwright, Tony
Kushner: Angels in
You
will be divided into groups. Each group will make a different TIMELINE showing the plays listed below.
This will be done on a poster board and done “artistically”. Use colors,
pictures and Internet photos.
Each
of the groups will be assigned a play from the titles given in the “process”.
Your group will be assigned ONE of these plays and investigate the
social problem portrayed by Mr. Kushner. You will use the TIPS Public Policy
Analyst and complete the worksheets using the Internet sources and facts from
the play itself. Your group will then write an ESSAY
defining the social problem and continuing using the information on TIPS
format. You will use the SIX-STEP PPA to elicit Mr. Kushner’s ideas in the
assigned play.
Your
essay will be a minimum of FOUR pages and will be typed on MS word.
Your
group will then present their findings to the class as a whole in a group
presentation. The class will learn form you so do a good job!
PROCESS 
All
members of the class will become familiar with three plays. The entire class will attend performances of Caroline, or Change on Broaeway, and Homebodies/Kabul at
In groups, each play will be examined in more
detail. One group will be assigned per
play. The group will research historical
context, and furnish a time line including major events surrounding each
play.
-
The group will identify problems of the period that are thematically
dealt with in the play, and identify social policies of the time. You will make use of the PUBLIC POLICY ANALYST at the TIPS
website. You will use the web sites in the “Resource” section of the web quest
to complete the sheets. You will then use the PPA worksheets to complete your
task
-
Go to http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/tips.html
and complete the Public Policy worksheets on the sites hyperlinked below. The worksheets will guide you through the
following steps.
You will evaluate Tony Kushner’s plays using the following
organizational pattern: Use the play and the resources listed below
1: Define the policy
as depicted by Tony Kushner
2: Gather the
Evidence for the problem Tony Kushner describes
3: Find the causes
for the problem the author believes to be valid
4: Evaluate
existing public policy examine Tony Kushner's thoughts regarding the
existing public policy that he writes about in his play
5: Develop solutions-explain
the solutions suggested by Tony Kushner if any
6: The group will then
suggest the best policy to address the problem. You will choose a public
policy that best addressed the problem portrayed by Tony Kushner in the play to
which you are assigned.
You will then write your essay, complete your poster
board and prepare your oral presentation. You may want to break your oral
presentation into the six-steps of the public policy analyst. This is just a
suggestion.
Here are hints to examples of thematic social problems to examine in
each play:
Caroline
Segregation
Single parenthood
Adolescent homosexuality
Racism
Poverty
Class prejudice
Bereavement
Extra credit: Research Tonya Pinkens (see recent NY Times article) and answer the
following critical questions:
1} What problems has the actor
overcome in her own life?
2: How do you think they inform her performance?
Angels
AIDS
Government hypocrisy
Homophobia
Religious intolerance
Gender, and transgender identity
Extra credit: Study
Meryl Streep’s performance as the Hasidic Rabbi in Act one (This part was
played by Kathleen Chalfant on Broadway). Answer the following question
Why do you think the author has chose to have
this part played by a woman?
Homebodies
American occupation in the Middle East
Religious intolerance
Treatment of women
Extra credit: Read this play as performed two years ago,
before the war in
How do you think the playwright is trying to affect current policies if this country?
3: http://www.barclayagency.com/kushner.html
4: http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc51.html
5: http://www.motherjones.com/arts/qa/2003/11/ma_586_01.html
6: http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/litlinks/drama/kushner.htm
7: http://www.fact-index.com/t/to/tony_kushner.html
(Play anthology)
8:http://theater2.nytimes.com/gst/theater/tdetails.html?id=1079949030329
Your poster and essay and oral presentation
will be graded according to the following rubric. You will receive a separate grade for each. Each member of
the group will receive the SAME grade so each must depend on the other………… GOOD LUCK!
|
Research Do your responses to
the research questions reflect thorough, careful research? |
1 2 3 4 5 |
|
Analysis Process Do your PPA worksheets reflect a well-thought-out analysis of the problem and development of policy? |
1 2 3 4 5 |
|
Creativity Have you engaged with the material and provided interesting and challenging ideas? |
1 2 3 4 5 |
|
Extra Credit |
Plus 10 |
|
Group Work and Class Presentation Have you conducted
yourselves professionally during class time while doing your research and
while presenting your findings to the class? |
1 2 3 4 5 |
23-25 points A
20-22 points A-
17-20 points B
14-16 points B-
10-13
C
5-10 points D
0-5 points F
You should have learned from
this web quest that writers and authors are critically important in our
democratic society. They expose social evils and motivate citizens to find
solutions to social problems. They preserve our democratic process and keep the
torch of free speech alive. You have also been exposed to the necessity for
Public Policy Analysts. They, too, examine social problems and search for
viable alternatives to social injustice and prejudicial public policies. You
have seen, that Tony Kushner if is one of these citizens how attempts to ignite
the human conscience and lift imagination to a new social levels of activism
Congratulations! You have helped many in need and may help many more of your
fellow citizens in the future.
STANDARDS
English
Language Arts
Standard 1. Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and
understanding; they will collect data, facts, and ideas and use electronically
produced texts.
Standard 4. Students
will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Standard
1: History of the
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of major ideas, eras, and themes.
Standard 5:Civics, Citizenship, and Government
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their
understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental
system of the