Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Dramas

An Offprint from

DRAMAfor Students

Drama for Students

Project EditorDavid Galens

EditorialSara Constantakis, Elizabeth A. Cranston,Kristen A. Dorsch, Anne Marie Hacht,Madeline S. Harris, Arlene Johnson, MichelleKazensky, Ira Mark Milne, Polly Rapp, PamRevitzer, Mary Ruby, Kathy Sauer, JenniferSmith, Daniel Toronto, Carol Ullmann

ResearchMichelle Campbell, Nicodemus Ford, SarahGenik, Tamara C. Nott, Tracie Richardson

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Printed in the United States of America

ISSN 1094-9232

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IntroductionPurpose of the Book

The purpose of Drama for Students (DfS) is toprovide readers with a guide to understanding,enjoying, and studying dramas by giving them easyaccess to information about the work. Part of Gale’s“For Students” literature line, DfS is specificallydesigned to meet the curricular needs of high schooland undergraduate college students and their teach-ers, as well as the interests of general readers andresearchers considering specific plays. While eachvolume contains entries on “classic” dramas fre-quently studied in classrooms, there are also entriescontaining hard-to-find information on contempo-rary plays, including works by multicultural, inter-national, and women playwrights.

The information covered in each entry includesan introduction to the play and the work’s author; aplot summary, to help readers unravel and under-stand the events in a drama; descriptions of impor-tant characters, including explanation of a givencharacter’s role in the drama as well as discussionabout that character’s relationship to other charac-ters in the play; analysis of important themes in thedrama; and an explanation of important literarytechniques and movements as they are demon-strated in the play.

In addition to this material, which helps thereaders analyze the play itself, students are alsoprovided with important information on the literaryand historical background informing each work.

This includes a historical context essay, a boxcomparing the time or place the drama was writtento modern Western culture, a critical essay, andexcerpts from critical essays on the play. A uniquefeature of DfS is a specially commissioned criticalessay on each drama, targeted toward the studentreader.

To further aid the student in studying andenjoying each play, information on media adapta-tions is provided (if available), as well as readingsuggestions for works of fiction and nonfiction onsimilar themes and topics. Classroom aids includeideas for research papers and lists of critical sourcesthat provide additional material on each drama.

Selection CriteriaThe titles for each volume of DfS were selected

by surveying numerous sources on teaching litera-ture and analyzing course curricula for variousschool districts. Some of the sources surveyed in-cluded: literature anthologies; Reading Lists forCollege-Bound Students: The Books Most Recom-mended by America’s Top Colleges; textbooks onteaching dramas; a College Board survey of playscommonly studied in high schools; a National Coun-cil of Teachers of English (NCTE) survey of playscommonly studied in high schools; St. James Press’sInternational Dictionary of Theatre; and ArthurApplebee’s 1993 study Literature in the SecondarySchool: Studies of Curriculum and Instruction inthe United States.

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Input was also solicited from our advisoryboard, as well as educators from various areas.From these discussions, it was determined that eachvolume should have a mix of “classic” dramas(those works commonly taught in literature classes)and contemporary dramas for which information isoften hard to find. Because of the interest in ex-panding the canon of literature, an emphasis wasalso placed on including works by international,multicultural, and women playwrights. Our advi-sory board members—educational professionals—helped pare down the list for each volume. If a workwas not selected for the present volume, it was oftennoted as a possibility for a future volume. Asalways, the editor welcomes suggestions for titles tobe included in future volumes.

How Each Entry Is OrganizedEach entry, or chapter, in DfS focuses on one

play. Each entry heading lists the full name of theplay, the author’s name, and the date of the play’spublication. The following elements are containedin each entry:

• Introduction: a brief overview of the dramawhich provides information about its first ap-pearance, its literary standing, any controver-sies surrounding the work, and major conflictsor themes within the work.

• Author Biography: this section includes basicfacts about the author’s life, and focuses onevents and times in the author’s life that in-spired the drama in question.

• Plot Summary: a description of the major eventsin the play. Subheads demarcate the plays’various acts or scenes.

• Characters: an alphabetical listing of majorcharacters in the play. Each character name isfollowed by a brief to an extensive descriptionof the character’s role in the plays, as well asdiscussion of the character’s actions, relation-ships, and possible motivation.

Characters are listed alphabetically by last name.If a character is unnamed—for instance, theStage Manager in Our Town—the character islisted as “The Stage Manager” and alphabetizedas “Stage Manager.” If a character’s first name isthe only one given, the name will appear alpha-betically by the name. Variant names are alsoincluded for each character. Thus, the nickname“Babe” would head the listing for a character inCrimes of the Heart, but below that listing would

be her less-mentioned married name “RebeccaBotrelle.”

• Themes: a thorough overview of how the majortopics, themes, and issues are addressed withinthe play. Each theme discussed appears in aseparate subhead, and is easily accessed throughthe boldface entries in the Subject/Theme Index.

• Style: this section addresses important style ele-ments of the drama, such as setting, point ofview, and narration; important literary devicesused, such as imagery, foreshadowing, sym-bolism; and, if applicable, genres to which thework might have belonged, such as Gothicismor Romanticism. Literary terms are explainedwithin the entry, but can also be found in theGlossary.

• Historical Context: this section outlines thesocial, political, and cultural climate in whichthe author lived and the play was created. Thissection may include descriptions of relatedhistorical events, pertinent aspects of daily lifein the culture, and the artistic and literarysensibilities of the time in which the work waswritten. If the play is a historical work, infor-mation regarding the time in which the play isset is also included. Each section is brokendown with helpful subheads.

• Critical Overview: this section provides back-ground on the critical reputation of the play,including bannings or any other public contro-versies surrounding the work. For older plays,this section includes a history of how the dramawas first received and how perceptions of itmay have changed over the years; for morerecent plays, direct quotes from early reviewsmay also be included.

• Criticism: an essay commissioned by DfS whichspecifically deals with the play and is writtenspecifically for the student audience, as well asexcerpts from previously published criticismon the work (if available).

• Sources: an alphabetical list of critical materialused in compiling the entry, with full biblio-graphical information.

• Further Reading: an alphabetical list of othercritical sources which may prove useful for thestudent. It includes full bibliographical infor-mation and a brief annotation.

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In addition, each entry contains the followinghighlighted sections, set apart from the main textas sidebars:

• Media Adaptations: if available, a list of impor-tant film and television adaptations of the play,including source information. The list may alsoinclude such variations on the work as audiorecordings, musical adaptations, and other stageinterpretations.

• Topics for Further Study: a list of potentialstudy questions or research topics dealing withthe play. This section includes questions re-lated to other disciplines the student may bestudying, such as American history, world his-tory, science, math, government, business, ge-ography, economics, psychology, etc.

• Compare and Contrast: an “at-a-glance” com-parison of the cultural and historical differ-ences between the author’s time and cultureand late twentieth century or early twenty-firstcentury Western culture. This box includespertinent parallels between the major scien-tific, political, and cultural movements of thetime or place the drama was written, the time orplace the play was set (if a historical work), andmodern Western culture. Works written after1990 may not have this box.

• What Do I Read Next?: a list of works thatmight complement the featured play or serve asa contrast to it. This includes works by thesame author and others, works of fiction andnonfiction, and works from various genres,cultures, and eras.

Other FeaturesDfS includes “The Study of Drama,” a fore-

word by Carole Hamilton, an educator and authorwho specializes in dramatic works. This essay ex-amines the basis for drama in societies and whatdrives people to study such work. The essay alsodiscusses how Drama for Students can help teachersshow students how to enrich their own reading/viewing experiences.

A Cumulative Author/Title Index lists the au-thors and titles covered in each volume of the DfSseries.

A Cumulative Nationality/Ethnicity Index breaksdown the authors and titles covered in each volumeof the DfS series by nationality and ethnicity.

A Subject/Theme Index, specific to each vol-ume, provides easy reference for users who may bestudying a particular subject or theme rather than asingle work. Significant subjects from events tobroad themes are included, and the entries pointingto the specific theme discussions in each entry areindicated in boldface.

Each entry may include illustrations, includingphoto of the author, stills from stage productions,and stills from film adaptations, if available.

Citing Drama for StudentsWhen writing papers, students who quote di-

rectly from any volume of Drama for Students mayuse the following general forms. These examplesare based on MLA style; teachers may request thatstudents adhere to a different style, so the followingexamples may be adapted as needed.

When citing text from DfS that is not attributedto a particular author (i.e., the Themes, Style, His-torical Context sections, etc.), the following formatshould be used in the bibliography section:

“Our Town.” Drama for Students. Eds. David Galensand Lynn Spampinato. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1998.227–30.

When quoting the specially commissioned es-say from DfS (usually the first piece under the“Criticism” subhead), the following format shouldbe used:

Fiero, John. Critical Essay on “Twilight: Los Ange-les, 1992.” Drama for Students. Eds. David Galensand Lynn Spampinato. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998.247–49.

When quoting a journal or newspaper essaythat is reprinted in a volume of DfS, the followingform may be used:

Rich, Frank. “Theatre: A Mamet Play, GlengarryGlen Ross.” New York Theatre Critics’ Review Vol.45, No. 4 (March 5, 1984), 5–7; excerpted and re-printed in Drama for Students, Vol. 2, eds. DavidGalens and Lynn Spampinato (Detroit: Gale, 1998),pp. 51–53.

When quoting material reprinted from a bookthat appears in a volume of DfS, the following formmay be used:

Kerr, Walter. “The Miracle Worker,” in The Theatrein Spite of Itself. Simon & Schuster, 1963. 255–57;excerpted and reprinted in Drama for Students, Vol.2, eds. David Galens and Lynn Spampinato (Detroit:Gale, 1998), pp. 123–24.

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We Welcome Your SuggestionsThe editor of Drama for Students welcomes

your comments and ideas. Readers who wish tosuggest dramas to appear in future volumes, or whohave other suggestions, are cordially invited tocontact the editor. You may contact the editor via E-mail at: ForStudentsEditors@gale.com. Or writeto the editor at:

Editor, Drama for StudentsThe Gale Group27500 Drake Rd.Farmington Hills, MI 48331–3535

Nonfiction Classics forStudentsProvides detailed literary and historicalbackground on the most commonlystudied nonfiction essays, books, biog-raphies and memoirs in a streamlined,easy-to-use format. Covering 15-20works per volume, this reference seriesgives high school and undergraduatestudents an ideal starting point for

class assignments, term papers and special projects. Entriesprovide: a brief author biography; a general introduction toand summary of the work; an annoted list of principal charac-ters; general discussions of the organization and construction,historical and cultural context, and principal themes of thework; and original critical essays written by academics in thefield, supplemented by excerpted previously published essaysand a list of sources for further reading. In addition, entries typically include information on media adaptations; readingrecommendations; a list of study questions; and more.

Novels for StudentsContains easily accessible and context-rich discussions of the literary and historical significance of major novelsfrom various cultures and time periods.Entries provide: a brief author biogra-phy; a general introduction to andsummary of the work; an annoted listof principal characters; general discus-sions of the organization and con-

struction, historical and cultural context, and principal themesof the work; and original critical essays written by academics inthe field, supplemented by excerpted previously publishedessays and a list of sources for further reading. In addition,entries typically include information on media adaptations;reading recommendations; a list of study questions; and more.

Drama for StudentsFeatures detailed coverage of the playsmost frequently studied in literatureclasses. Entries provide: a brief authorbiography; a general introduction toand summary of the work; an annotedlist of principal characters; general discussions of the organization andconstruction, historical and culturalcontext, and principal themes of the

work; original critical essays written by academics in the field,supplemented by excerpted previously published essays; a list ofsources for further reading; and more.

Short Stories forStudentsEach volume presents detailed infor-mation on approximately 20 of themost-studied short stories at the highschool and early-college levels. Entriesprovide: a brief author biography; ageneral introduction to and summaryof the work; an annoted list of princi-pal characters; general discussions of

the organization and construction, historical and cultural context, and principal themes of the work; and original criticalessays written by academics in the field, supplemented byexcerpted previously published essays. In addition, entries typi-cally include information on media adaptations; reading rec-ommendations; a list of study questions; and more.

Epics for StudentsThis reference is designed to providestudents and other researchers with aguide to understanding and enjoyingthe epic literature that is most studiedin classrooms. Each entry includes anintroductory essay; biographical information on the author; a plotsummary; an examination of the epic’sprincipal themes, style, construction,

historical background and critical reception; and an originalcritical essay supplemented by excerpted previously publishedcriticism. In addition, entries typically include information onmedia adaptations; reading recommendations; a list of studyquestions; and more.

Shakespeare forStudentsThese accessible volumes provideessential interpretation and criticismof the Shakespeare plays most oftenstudied in secondary schools andundergraduate curricula. Each play istreated in approximately 50 to 75pages of text. Entries feature an intro-duction to the play, including a plot

summary, descriptive list of characters and outline of the generalcritical issues related to studying the play; annotated criticismreprinted from periodicals and academic journals and arrangedby general topic/theme; and lists of sources for further study.

Gale Group’s “For Students” Literature Guides

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