The conversation about the play

Those who saw the production of The Dollar Woman have had a pretty interesting conversation about the experience over the break. Clearly, there's lots to talk about. I can imagine a whole term in which we did nothing else. Unfortunately, we don't have time to explore all the things that make the play, and the production, interesting and important. What we do have time to do is some reflecting on what that experience can help us learn about (surprise!) how people come to believe what they do.

You'll remember that the last prompt said, in part, "When you write, pay attention as much as you can to what characters in the play believe -- especially what the characters in the section you read believe, and how you know it, based on what they say (you have a script of your part, so you have time to consider in some detail what they believe, and how you know)." Also,

You should, in preparation for that class meeting, have read all the postings and chosen two passages from other people's writing that you think worth discussing (looking especially for thoughts about what various people in the play believe, or what you think the playwrights believed, or how beliefs got changed). Copy the relevant part of each posting into a new word processor page, explain below it why you think it's worth attending to, and print each out on a separate page.

We're going to begin by treating those passages as inksheds -- that is, read a half dozen or so, marking as we go. In this case what I want you to do is look for one that you think particularly worth talking about. By that I mean a passage that, for you, raises a question or reflection about what someone believes, or how we can tell what she believes from what she says. After everybody's had a chance to find one passage, we'll do a round in which each person tells us what she chose, and why.

For Thursday

Go back to your part of the play (the part you read in advance) and find at least two things that characters say that you think allow us to see what the character values -- to infer, or guess at, a deeper belief or value that lies under or behind what they're saying. Transcribe each speech (carefully), print them out at the top of  separate pages, and bring them to class Thursday afternoon. You may need to include a bit more of the text so your reader will understand the speech you want to discuss. An example of how you might do that (what your page might look like) is on the back of this prompt.