Sharing the questions

I'm expecting that people are arriving in class with three lists of questions drawn from your reading of the online questions on the course Web site (as assigned in the email and the prompt from Monday):

• a list of at least a dozen questions which you think could be answered (or at least answered sufficiently) by looking at the context in which the reference occurs, with a suggested answer.
• a list of at least twenty questions that you think could be answered in a phrase, by looking up the answer on line, in a dictionary or other reference work -- and that you think answering would actually help you understand something (and answers to as many of those questions as you could find in an hour or so)
• a list of a dozen questions which you think it might be worth talking about, but which can't be answered by consulting a reference work.

Identifying Human Remains

Because I don't think it requires quite as much background as The Hostage, and because I've been preoccupied with making sure we were getting started on the Behan play, I haven't made a point of the fact that one of the other plays that we will use this term is running simultaneously with The Hostage: it's Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love, by Brad Fraser, which is being put on by UNB Theatre, also on February 20-23 (in other words, opening a week from tonight).

While normally I allow people to pick and choose among the plays that are being produced, this year I'm not going to be able to do that -- in part because of our late start, and in part because there simply seem to be fewer plays available. So we're going to work with both plays over the next couple of weeks, and a requirement of the course is going to have to be that you see both productions (or, if you have to miss one, that you arrange instead to read and see Tuesdays with Morrie, in Saint John, March 20-22).

I have made copies of the script for Unidentified Human Remains. You'll need to read the play and write a thoughtful reflection on your reading by a week from today. You should save the reflection as a computer file. On Friday we'll meet in the computer lab in the basement of Casey Hall (G2) and you'll learn how to post reflections on your reading on the course Forum, and how to respond to the reflections of other people.

As with The Hostage, there simply is not enough time between the beginning of classes and the opening of the play to assemble a playgoer's guide.  There is, however, time for people to do a quick first bit of research on one or the other of these plays, and for us to exchange at least some of what we've learned. So here's what I propose: between now and a week from today, half the class will take each play and spend a couple of hours finding out what you can about it, its playwright, and its context, and prepare a report of what you found and where you found it. I'll assign the plays at random, and if you are assigned one and want to do the other you'll need to find someone to exchange with you.

If you're not sure where to start, I'll put some suggestions for where to begin looking for background information on the course Web site later today.