Journal
Home Syllabus Journal Project Ordo Virtutum Useful Links

Journal and Summative Essay
Medieval Drama - Fall 2006

Click here for a printable version.

Beginning September 18 and continuing through December 4 I would like you to keep a weekly journal focused on the production of The Adventures of Silence.  The journal should include the following elements as they become relevant: 

  What do you expect the production to be like?  How do you expect to be involved?

How could you be most effectively involved in the production?

As rehearsals progress, what are you concerns about the production?

What ideas do you have for solutions to problems?

How does the production help you better understand what you are learning in class?

How are you drawing on what you have learned in class?

In what ways are you learning from other class members?

How does working on the production form links between the university and the community?

Describe moments in rehearsal or committee work where production members are at odds.  How are conflicts resolved?  Does the resolution seem healthy to you?

Describe moments in rehearsal or committee work where production members work together effectively.  What allows that to happen? 

            If you feel comfortable writing at the computer, then keep your journal in an electronic form and turn in hard copies on October 2 and November 13, leaving room for responses after each week’s entry.  Alternatively, you can keep your journal on loose-leaf paper or in a notebook. 

****************************************************** 

            After the performances I would like you to write a two- to four-page summative essay (double spaced with one-inch margins).  This should be more carefully structured and thought out than the journal entries.  In this paper, you might draw on the following topics: 

What moment in rehearsal or performance do you remember most vividly?  Why?

How did the performance draw on what you learned in class?

How did the performance transform what you learned in class?

In what ways did you learn from other class members?

In what ways was the production weak?  Could those weaknesses have been avoided?

In what ways was the production successful?

What were your most important contributions to the production and how were they important?

How did the performance connect medieval thinking and modern community?

Describe a moment in rehearsal or performance that best illustrates community interaction.

What aspect of the production was most significant for you?