Lesson Content : Tuesday 1st November : Tragedy and Assessment Objectives

In today's lesson I explained that we are going to be completing coursework for Unit 2 : Dramatic Genres.

We began by discussing the concept of tragedy and I gave you the following information:

A tragedy, in the theatrical sense, is a serious play which represents the disastrous downfall of a central character (the protagonist). In some Ancient Greek tragedies, a happy ending was possible, but the more usual ending is that the protagonist dies.

Aristotle (4th Century) defined a tragedy as an action which is serious and complete, with the protagonist achieving catharsis (purification) through incidents which arouse pity and terror. The protagonist is led to this point through hamartia (an error) which often takes the form of hubris (excessive pride).

Traditionally, the protagonist would be of high status.

The protagonist in a tragedy has a character defect or tragic flaw which brings about their downfall.

We looked at the requirements for the coursework essay (1200-1500 words long) and I showed you the things that were expected of you in writing the essay. These are derived from the specific assessment objectives and can be summarised as follows:

I explained that there are similarities between 'DOAS' and 'TGG' such as setting and the American Dream.

You were asked to do some research for homework focussing on the changes that occurred in the USA between 1925 (when 'TGG' is set) and 1949 (the approxiamte historical setting of 'DOAS'.

• write in essay form and construct arguments relevant to the task
• offer textual evidence in support of your arguments
• use critical vocabulary relevant to discussions of tragedy and the chosen   texts
• show awareness of how dramatic form and structure contribute to the tragic genre
• show awareness of some of the details of represented speech
• show awareness of different interpretations in areas such as status of tragic heroes and definitions and sub-definitions of your chosen texts within the tragic genre
• show awareness of literary and cultural contexts within notions of dramatic tragedy
• show awareness of other appropriate contexts (such as social, moral, religious and political) that may be applicable.