Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
They should be 3 pages double-spaced with a bibliography afterwards, naming any sources you used in your research. Each paper will compare and contrast a different dramatic stage work with the film it is based on.
SUGGESTED STRUCTURE OF YOUR PAPERS:
Start out with a thesis statement: a point you are going to expand on in the body of your report. (Example: “Baz Luhrmann’s film of “Romeo and Juliet” mirrors a contemporary world that is always on the edge of exploding into violence.” Another example: Julie Taymor’s film “Titus” shows that violence is an innate part of being human, and even a child is a part of that cycle.”)
Do NOT use a play/film I have lectured on for the subject of your Written Report. I am more interested in your own views about a play/film I didn’t cover.
The rest of your report is about supporting (proving) that thesis statement. I want you to be very conscious of what you see as the THEME of the play and film are (maybe they are different in both!). Don’t be too concerned with telling the plot. Look at what the big picture is. What is the writer and director trying to say about 1) the world the play was set in, 2) the time period both the play and film were first produced in. (Example: Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” is about the Salem Witch hunts of 1692, but it was written in response to Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Communist ‘witch hunts’ in the 1950’s showing how one period mirrored another, Both were set in a time of paranoia, finger pointing, and attacks on personal freedom.
Report on HOW the filmmaker uses the medium of film to get his message (as you see it) across to the audience (Example: in Luhrmann’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ we are immediately put into a world of televised violence, designer guns, a pool of gasoline with a match held over it – all of this supports Luhrmann’s view as “Verona” being a powder keg ready to ignite. Also, Romeo and Juliet’s first meetings are thru an aquarium or in a pool. Water is the opposite of fire, so Luhrmann uses these images as a calming force on the unstable world they live in.
HERE’S SOME EXAMPLES OF TOPICS YOU COULD COVER IN YOUR REPORTS:
Give a brief description of the period in which the play was written and/or the playwright’s life, and how it influenced the creation of the play.
What were the theatrical conventions of that period and how did they affect the play?
What is the theme of the play? Analyze how the playwright uses characters and action to get across his theme for the play.
How are the tools of film (shots, montage, art direction, symbols, music, etc) used to enhance or change the play? How does the director of the film impose his own vision onto the play?
What special qualities does the film version bring to the play?
You can incorporate 1-2 You Tube links that support your thesis and explain why you believe these scenes support your thesis.
Spelling and grammar count! Do not simply download information from the internet! This is about YOUR reaction to a work of art and how it affected you and WHY you think the director made the artistic choices he did.
