1975 Also. Unlike the novelist, the writer of a play does not use his own voice and only rarely uses a narrator's voice to guide the audience's responses to character and action. Select a play you have read and write an essay in which you explain the techniques the playwright uses to guide his audience's responses to the central characters and the action. You might consider the effect on the audience of things like setting, the use of comparable and contrasting characters, and the characters' responses to each other. Support your argument with specific references to the play. Do not give a plot summary.
Edward Albee wrote the famous play, "The American Dream". He portrays a little American family that is greatly concerned with materialism, consumerism, and sexuality. The use of his characters and text creates a message and a voice that was meant to show his ideas of the real american dream. The setting, and characteristics of the characters shows the idea of Albee's writing.
The setting takes place in the home of Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma. Grandma is a kind character, and she represents the old American dream by the way she is being pushed away from the family. When the young man shows up, he is representing the new american dream. He is young, fresh, and attractive, which is exactly what Mommy and Daddy are searching for, for themselves. The way that Mommy is obsessed with materials shows the idea that America is caught up in materialism and consumerism. Mommy ensures that Daddy is listening to her story about "buying a new hat yesterday" (58). The home and the people living in the home interact with each other in a way that represents society.
Albee is attempting to give a new perspective to the way society is changing and what people are now accepting as "The American Dream".
Elaborate on your ideas here. And include more of them. If for no other reason than adding length, you could include the quote in which Grandma refers to the young man as the American Dream outright. Grandma also didn't seem to kind to me; she called her daughter a gold-digging whore. And what do you mean by "ideas of the real american dream"?
ReplyDeleteThis seems more like notes than an essay; enough to remind you of your thoughts. Just work on articulating them so we outside your head can understand them too. Substantiating your statements with quotes could help us understand what you mean, too. :)
This was a little shorter than what I was expecting, but if that was all you could think of, that's fine. I don't really feel like you answer the question that the prompt is asking. You seem to concentrate on what Albee wants the audience to think throughout the play regarding symbolism, not what they are supposed to think of the characters and plot. Please don't use quotes also, because when you're writing this for the AP exam, you won't have a book in front of you to take quotes from. I like how you have a format though with an introduction paragraph, filler and a conclusion, and you have a nice thesis statement to round it out.
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