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Chapters (27)
  1. Front Cover
  2. Half-Title Page
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. Dedication
  7. Cast
  8. Prologue
  9. Act One
  10. Scene 2
  11. Scene 3
  12. Scene 4
  13. Scene 5
  14. Scene 6
  15. Scene 7
  16. Scene 8
  17. Act Two
  18. Scene 2
  19. Scene 3
  20. Scene 4
  21. Scene 5
  22. Scene 6
  23. Scene 7
  24. Scene 8
  25. An Interview with Rita Dove
  26. Biographical Note
  27. Back Cover
  • What theme in the play have you chosen as your topic?
  • Is your topic primarily connected to one character in the play? If so, who is that character and how is he/she connected or involved with that topic/theme?
  • If not, who are the characters and how are they connected to or involved with the topic/theme?

Block quote a short passage from the play in which your topic appears and answer the following question:

  • What historical information would you like to have in order to more fully understand the moment you cite? How might having more historical information shed light on your interpretation(s) of this passage?

List three questions you have about your topic as it appears in the pasage you cite.

B. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RESEARCH LOG

For this part of the assignment you will be conducting historical research on your topic. Hand in an Annotated Bibliography of at least three sources which may include:

  • An article of 7 or more pages
  • One chapter of a book

While the use of encyclopedia entries, brief magazine articles, internet resources and reference books may serve as excellent starting points—your three annotated sources must be from scholarly journals. If you have a question about a source consult a reference librarian or your professor.

Bring your Research Log to class.

C. PAPER

The Darker Face of the Earth is being produced in Atlanta for an audience well informed about the history of slavery. The themes that arise in Dove’s play will not only be familiar to that audience, but the critic who will review the play on opening night is an expert on your topic. The director hopes for a positive review but knows that if an actor does not fully understand his/her role within the historical contexts that apply to that role, this critic will not offer favorable reviews.

The director has asked you to give a talk to either:

  • One character who is most closely associated with your topic
  • The actors involved in one act of the play in which your topic is a primary theme of that act

The director has asked that you aim not to regurgitate facts from the history books (because her actors can read those books themselves). She does not want a “history report.” She has hired you to explore why the historical information regarding your topic is important to the actor’s interpretation of his or her role and how having the historical information affects the choices the actor will make as he/she plays the role.

ASSIGNMENT NOTES

The open-endedness of the question is intentional. The question for the final essay (part C) engenders a variety of approaches to the paper. Some students have written papers in speech form, as if they were going to deliver their paper to actors. Other students prefer a more traditional, thesis-driven essay approach.