modern drama essay questions

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Essay Guidelines: Modern Drama

Assignment This critical writing assignment asks you to discuss any one or two of the plays on the syllabus. The topic is up to you to choose, though it is important that you do more than rehash class discussion. Given the length of the essay, you should focus on a topic that doesn't demand extensive background information, but instead allows you to make a clear, compelling thesis claim and support it with textual evidence efficiently. Incorporate one secondary source (book chapter or scholarly article) into your discussion and document it, as well as your primary source/s, using MLA style. Submit your essay as a pdf document via Blackboard

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John Barton's Playing Shakespeare is a transcription of nine BBC television programs, which originally aired in the UK in 1984. For those who did not catch the original airing of these programs, the series beautifully engaged the audience on a variety of Shakespearean topics. One could easily classify John Barton's Playing Shakespeare as a master class in acting, as Barton spends the entirety of the series directing and conversing with some of the most important Shakespearean actors of the 20th century: Sir Ian McKellan, Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Sir Patrick Stewart to name but a few. While it might be easy to characterize this text as one best suited for drama students, John Barton's Playing Shakespeare will appeal to instructors and students alike. The book provides great insight into unlocking Shakespearean text, and encourages the reader to envision Shakespeare's drama using a variety of techniques.

Modern Drama

PHILIPPA SHEPPARD

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Course info.

• Prof. Diana Henderson

Departments

As taught in.

• Media Studies

Learning Resource Types

Modern drama.

Moving from drawing-room comedy to absurdism, from political protest to the theater of science, we will sample a wide range of the fascinating drama that has been composed during the past century. Many of these plays are now acknowledged “classics” of modern drama; the rest are prize-winning contemporary plays that have broken new ground. We will study them both as distinguished writing and as scripts for performance. During the first century of film, television, and computers, it seems that writers for the theater have been especially attuned to the relationships between past and present and to the changing role of their medium. Paying particular attention to the importance of nationalism, group categorization, and science in shaping modern life, much of their drama suggests that current events are inseparable from a larger cultural history. Several of these plays have been reconceived for the big or small screen. Within this multimedia and socio-historical context, we will consider what drama in particular has to offer now and in the future: this subject is therefore cross-listed by Literature and Comparative Media Studies, and can help satisfy the theater history requirement for the Theater Arts major.

This is also a HASS Communication-Intensive Course, in which we will work on improving your skills, awareness, and confidence as a writer and speaker. Knowing without sharing is insufficient. A variety of writing opportunities (including revision of the first essay), class reports, and performance work will aid us in realizing these goals.

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week 1.5 hours / session

The Film Office usually can provide copies of the films we screen, and you will want to avail yourself of this resource should you decide to write on a particular screen version. If you will not be able to attend a scheduled evening screening, however, please let me know well in advance, so that we can use the office staff’s time appropriately.

Requirements

You should come to class ready and eager to discuss the assigned play. That means having read it (at least once), thought about it, and taken sufficient care of yourself to be alert in mind and body.

Each person will take a leadership role in teaching one play. This will involve generating a list of questions and possibly other helpful handouts or presentation materials; initiating the discussion; and being prepared to provide some context and answer informational questions from your colleagues. You may think of creative, exciting ways to convey key insights and aspects of the play: you may want to consult with me in advance. I will guarantee you 20-30 minutes of the class time, after which I may lead the class in directions not yet addressed (if that seems helpful). Each person will also read an “outside play” from the appended list, and give a short oral presentation to the class based on that reading and accompanying research (15 minutes maximum): in addition to allowing each one of you to become the class expert on one play, this will familiarize the group with more modern drama than we could (reasonably) manage to read collectively. I ask that you turn in to me your written materials (report outline, discussion questions, supporting materials, bibliography) after your oral presentations. Everyone will write two short (5-7 pp.) essays, the first focusing on close scene analysis, the second on the topic most compelling to you. Revision of one of the two assignments above is required; revision of both, optional. Turn in your original drafts along with revisions . [Original grade and revision grade will be averaged to replace the original grade.]

In addition, you will choose between two options: (A) write two more short (5-7 pp.) essays, most likely drawing upon the material in each of your two oral presentations, or (B) write one longer (10-12 pp.) essay, which might well draw on that research as well, in a focused, comparative format. If you intend to count this class as a seminar for purposes of the Literature concentration, minor, or major, I will ask that you choose option (B). If you would like to write an essay eligible for the Kelly Writing Prize, I suggest you aim for 15 pages instead of 10-12. I am receptive to multimedia essays, or other topic ideas you may have for your later writing assignments.

Approximate Valuation for Grading Purposes

I reserve the right to alter this weighting somewhat in exceptional circumstances; often this works to your advantage.

This is a twelve-unit subject, which assumes that you will allot nine hours/week outside the classroom for reading, writing, rehearsing, and thinking deep thoughts about twentieth-century drama.

Please Note: Written work must be submitted by the due date. Except in cases of personal emergency, late work will not receive written response and will receive a lower grade. Unless you receive an individual extension for special reasons or petition to receive a grade of Incomplete in the course, no work can be accepted after the end of the semester.

I hope that the following statement is unnecessary: conscious plagiarism of any sort is completely unacceptable . Discussion of ideas and communal learning is a primary goal of this subject; stealing others’ ideas or words, (as distinct from citing or adapting them openly and honestly) undermines this goal. Please consult my stylesheet ( PDF ) and talk with me if you have any doubts whatsoever about proper citation of sources or about standards of intellectual honesty. Any act of plagiarism will be grounds for failure of this subject . The following is the Literature Section’s official policy statement:

Plagiarism-use of another’s intellectual work without acknowledgement-is a serious offense. It is the policy of the Literature Faculty that students who plagiarize will receive an F in the subject, and that the instructor will forward the case to the Committee on Discipline. Full acknowledgement for all information obtained from sources outside the classroom must be clearly stated in all written work submitted. All ideas, arguments, and direct phrasings taken from someone else’s work must be identified and properly footnoted. Quotations from other sources must be clearly marked as distinct from the student’s own work. For further guidance on the proper forms of attribution consult the style guides available in the Writing and Communication Center in Stata and the MIT Web Site on Plagiarism .

In addition to welcoming your participation in class, I encourage you to discuss your ideas and your writing with me during office hours, or at other times convenient for us both. I hope to meet with each of you individually during the first half of the semester.

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Modern Drama | Characteristics & Examples - Quiz & Worksheet

• Quiz & Worksheet - Modern Drama Overview Quiz

Choose an answer and hit 'next'. You will receive your score and answers at the end.

Which of these writers is NOT associated with modern drama?

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1. who is the main character of henrik ibsen's a doll's house , 2. which play by henrik ibsen generated controversy for its portrayal of marriage.

• A Doll's House
• Long Day's Journey Into Night
• Major Barbara

About This Quiz & Worksheet

What is modern drama? You can assess your understanding of this form of drama and its characteristics by using the quiz and worksheet.

Quiz & Worksheet Goals

You will be assessed on your knowledge of:

• The main character of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House
• Writers associated with modern drama
• The play that Eugene O'Neill based off of his family
• A play by George Bernard Shaw
• The play that generated controversy because of the portrayal of marriage

Skills Practiced

• Reading comprehension - ensure that you draw the most important information from the lesson on modern drama
• Knowledge application - use your knowledge to answer questions about different plays
• Information recall - access the knowledge you have gained about the main character of the play A Doll's House

Additional Learning

In order to learn more about this form of drama, use the lesson named Modern Drama: Definition & Examples. Some goals you can complete because of this lesson include:

• Define drama
• Review characteristics of modern drama
• Identify famous contributors of modern drama

14 chapters | 131 quizzes

• Drama | Definition, Terms & Examples Quiz

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• Theatre of the Absurd Quiz
• Elements of Drama | Definition & Examples Quiz
• Dramatic Structure | Freytag's Pyramid, Elements & Examples Quiz
• Dramatic Structure | Definition & Parts Quiz
• Analyzing Dramatic Works: Theme, Character Development & Staging Quiz
• Dramatic Irony | Definition & Examples Quiz
• Reading & Interpreting Dialogue from a Script or Play Quiz
• Interpreting the Main Idea and Purpose of a Scene Quiz
• The Use of Punctuation in Dramatic Dialogue Quiz
• Inferring Mood in Drama Quiz
• Character Dialogue & Nonverbal Communication in a Drama Quiz
• Character Motivation in a Drama Quiz

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Modern (20th Century) Drama in English Literature: Characteristics & Features

Back to: History of English Literature All Ages – Summary & Notes

Table of Contents

What is Modern Drama

The drama which had suffered a steep decline during the Victorian Age was revived with great force at the beginning of the 20 th century and the course of six decades has witnessed many trends and currents in the 20th-century drama.

The drama of the Modernist Movement in England was much less innovative in technique than it was its poetry and novel .

History of Modern Drama

English Drama during the Modernist Period (1845-1945) A.D. falls into three categories:

Modern Drama Characteristics

Realism is the most significant and outstanding quality of Modern English Drama. The dramatists of the earlier years of the 20th century were interested in naturalism and it was their endeavor (try) to deal with real problems of life in a realistic technique to their plays.

It was Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian dramatist who popularised realism in Modern Drama. He dealt with the problems of real life in a realistic manner of his play. His example was followed by Robertson Arthur Jones, Galsworthy and G. B. Shaw in their plays.

The modern drama has developed the Problem Play and there are many Modern Dramatists who have written a number of problem plays in our times. They dealt with the problems of marriage, justice, law, administration, and strife between capital and labor in their dramas.

They used theatre as a means for bringing about reforms in the conditions of society prevailing in their days. Henrik Ibsen’s play A Doll’s House is a good example of a problem play .

Play of Ideas

Modern Drama is essentially a drama of ideas rather than action. The stage is used by dramatists to give expression to certain ideas which they want to spread in society.

Modern Drama dealing with the problems of life has become far more intelligent than ever it was in the history of drama before the present age.

Romanticism

Poetic plays.

T.S. Eliot was the main dramatist who gave importance to poetic plays and was the realistic prose drama of the modern drama. Stephen Phillips, John Drink Water, Yeats, etc were from those who wrote poetic plays.

History and Biographical Plays

Irish movement.

A new trend in the Modern English Drama was introduced by the Irish dramatists who brought about the Celtic Revival in the literature.

In the hands of the Irish dramatists like Yeats, J.M. Synge, T.C. Murrey etc. drama ceased to be realistic in character and became an expression of the hopes and aspirations of the Irish people from remote ways to their own times.

Comedy of Manners

The drama after the second has not exhibited a love for comedy and the social conditions of the period after the war is not very favorable for the development of the artificial comedy of the Restoration Age .

Impressionism

In the impressionistic plays of W.B. Yeats, the main effort is in the direction of recreating the experience of the artist and his impressions about reality rather than in presenting reality as it is.

The impressionistic drama of the modern age seeks to suggest the impressions on the artist rather than making an explicit statement about the objective characteristics of things or objects.

Expressionism

Further reading.

• Arts & Humanities
• Performing Arts

English A1: Part 3 – Drama essay questions

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3. Modern Texts ( AQA GCSE English Literature )

Revision note, an inspector calls: overview.

The An Inspector Calls question is part of Paper 2, Section A of your GCSE. For this, you are required to write one essay-length answer to one set question. This can seem daunting at first, but this page contains some helpful information, and links to more detailed revision note pages, that will enable you to aim for the highest grade. This page includes:

Who was J.B. Priestley?

An Inspector Calls plot summary

• A brief overview of what is required in the exam

An Inspector Calls characters

An Inspector Calls context

An Inspector Calls themes

An Inspector Calls quotes

Top tips for the highest grade

John Boyton Priestley was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter and broadcaster. Priestley was born in Bradford, England on 13th September 1894 and died at the age of 89 on the 14th August 1984. Priestley’s career as a playwright began in the 1930s and theatre became the form for which he was most renowned. 

An Inspector Calls is Priestley’s best-known and most-performed play and was written in 1945. 

Many of Priestley's plays were associated with 'drawing room' theatre which emerged during the Victorian period, whereby the events occur in a single room which would have been intended to be recreated in one’s own house. This genre of plays was developed as a result of the widespread practice of entertaining visitors at home during this time and is clearly evident in An Inspector Calls, whereby all of the action takes place in the Birlings’ dining room. Priestley was also interested in subverting narrative structures and in the theories of time and An Inspector Calls is typically seen as one of his 'Time Plays', in which the characters are encouraged to look back at their past actions.

Social responsibility in An Inspector Calls is a recurrent theme throughout many of Priestley’s plays and it is one of the most prevalent themes within An Inspector Calls, with the role of the Inspector used to highlight that all actions have consequences. For further ideas about this theme and others explored in the play, please see the An Inspector Calls: Themes page.

An Inspector Calls is a three-act play set in the dining room of the Birlings, an affluent family living within the fictional and industrial city of Brumley, in the north of England. The play is set in 1912, just two years before the First World War. Inspector Goole is the stranger who visits the affluent Birling family and confronts them with their complicity in the suicide of a young woman named Eva Smith. 

Inspector Goole arrives just as the Birlings are celebrating Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft's engagement. While the Inspector informs that a young woman committed suicide by drinking disinfectant, the family is bewildered as to how they are connected. As the plot progresses, each character begins to realise their connection to Eva, and as the play concludes and the mysterious Inspector departs, an ominous phone call notifies them that another police inspector is on his way. For a more detailed summary, please see the An Inspector Calls: Plot Summary page.

How is An Inspector Calls assessed in the exam?

• Your GCSE Paper 2 requires you to answer four questions in 2hr 15min. Within that time, you have approximately 45 minutes to plan, write and check your An Inspector Calls essay
• Paper 2 is worth 96 marks and accounts for 60% of your overall GCSE grade
• The An Inspector Calls essay is worth 34 marks in total, because it also includes 4 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar
• Section A of Paper 2 contains the An Inspector Calls question and you are required to answer one question on the play from a choice of two 
• It is a closed-book exam, which means you will not have access to a copy of the text in your exam (and there is no printed extract from the text on your question paper, unlike in Paper 1)
• You will be asked a question that asks you to analyse and write in detail about an aspect of An Inspector Calls
• Your answer will need to address the play as a whole

For a much more detailed guide on answering the An Inspector Calls question, please see our revision notes on How to Answer the Modern Prose and Drama Essay Question .

The characters you should focus on when revising An Inspector Calls are:

• Arthur Birling
• Sybil Birling
• Sheila Birling
• Eric Birling
• Gerald Croft
• Inspector Goole

When considering Priestley’s play, or any other text, it is critical to understand that characters are deliberate inventions made by a writer for a purpose. These characters frequently represent concepts or belief systems, and a writer, such as Priestley, uses them to explore these ideas and views. For more details on the characters in An Inspector Calls, please see the An Inspector Calls: Characters revision notes page.

At GCSE, it can be difficult to understand what context actually is. Examiners define context as the ideas and perspectives addressed by a writer through their text, not as historical information or facts and details about a writer. Therefore, for the An Inspector Calls context you should not write information about England in 1912, or facts about Priestley’s life, but instead refer to ideas about:

• Capitalism and Socialism 
• Responsibility

Lots of these ideas and perspectives are universal, so your own opinions of them are valid, and will be rewarded in an exam. For a detailed breakdown of the contextual topics listed above, see the An Inspector Calls: Context page.

Understanding the themes in An Inspector Calls is one of the best approaches any student can take when revising the play. This is because to get the highest mark on your exam, you need to take what examiners call a “conceptualised approach”: a detailed and perceptive exploration of Priestley’s ideas and intentions. The key themes in An Inspector Calls are:

• Capitalism versus Socialism
• Generational divide
• Guilt 
• Class 

There are of course more themes than just those listed above that are investigated by Priestley in An Inspector Calls, and you are encouraged to explore these too. However, the above list makes a great place to start, and detailed breakdowns of each of these themes can be found on our An Inspector Calls: Themes page.

Although you are given credit for including quotations from An Inspector Calls in your answer, it is not a requirement of the exam. In fact, examiners say that “references” to the rest of the play are just as valid as direct quotations: this is when students pinpoint individual moments in the play, rather than quoting what the characters say. In order to select references really successfully, it is extremely important that you know the play itself very well, including the order of the events that take place in the play. This detailed act-by-act breakdown of the plot will help you to revise the chronology of An Inspector Calls.

However, it can also be useful to revise a few quotations from the play that can be used in a variety of essays on different themes and characters. For an analysis of each of these quotations, see our An Inspector Calls: Key Quotations page.

Please see our revision pages on the modern text exam for guides on:

• Structuring your An Inspector Calls essay
• An Inspector Calls methods and techniques
• How to include context in the An Inspector Calls essay
• Understanding the An Inspector Calls mark scheme
• An Inspector Calls model answer