Posted: July 18th, 2015

the phantom of the operah and i want my paper to be about it

the phantom of the operah and i want my paper to be about it

Comparison: TV/Play

Instructions Length of paper: between 1200 and 1500 total words.

Description: To complete the paper you will attend a full length play (it can be a play, musical, ballet or opera). If you are in the Salt Lake area you will attend Salt Lake Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s dream, produced by the Theatre Dept. You can get in free with your Ucard. If not in this area you may attend any live, full-length play (an hour or more). Most plays are similar in length to a movie. The play you choose must be seen during this semester. Search for live theatre in any city in the world and you should find listings. Theatre exists everywhere. I’ve had students in the military take this class from Iraq and we found a way for him to do this paper. You must attend the entire show to do the paper, so stay until the end. The play can be produced by any level of theatre company: professional, college, community, school or church. It can be a play, musical, opera or ballet. The show has to have a plot or story to be appropriate for the paper. You cannot use a concert, improv show, stand-up comedy or a movie.

ASSIGNMENT: The paper is a comparison between the play you see and a television show you choose. Your answers for the tv show can be based on a series as a whole or on one episode alone. Be sure to use specific examples to support your ideas. Put only the number of the item before each of your responses; do not write out or include my questions and instructions.

1.Name of show. Playwright. Name of theatre where you saw it. Date you attended. Length of show (most are 2 hours or so; yours must be at least one hour).

2. Find something that is similar between the play you saw and your tv show. It can be anything: plot, theme, style, look, setting, time period or anything else you devise. Use specific examples to describe this similarity.

3. Find something different between the play and the tv show and use examples to describe this difference.

4. Choose one character from the play and compare him or her to a character from your chosen tv show. How were their objectives or goals similar? How did they differ? Did they accomplish them? What obstacles did they encounter in their efforts toward their goals? Use specific examples.

5. Talk about the use of language in each of the shows. How did the different styles of language affect your ability to understand and follow the play.

6. What is the over-all purpose of each of the shows? How do you think the writers of each wanted you to respond? Did they succeed? Why or why not?

7. Talk about your over-all enjoyment of the play compared to your enjoyment of the tv show. Did the live nature of the play add or subtract from your experience. Name one thing from each show that you think worked well and one thing that you would change if you could.

8. Was the ending of the play effective? Why? Is the tv show the type where each episode has a plot with a complete ending or do the storylines carry over to the next week? Which type do you prefer?

Note: there is no guideline as to how many words you use to answer each of the items. The total for all eight must be between 1200 and 1500 words. Too short or too long will result in a few points lost. Again: please use a Word compatible format.