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Write a 2 paragraph for history of theatre class, comparing and contrasting the Italian Renaissance and the English Renaissance. : 1) Give your RP an interesting title. This is the place to be most creative in an attempt to draw the reader into your text. 2) You will respond according to the following template, numbering both sections: Section 1. Summarize your personal and general experience with the reading, readings, performance, or concept involved in your chosen question (How did it make you feel?  Did you agree or disagree with its ideas, characters, styles, or qualities? Did it resonate with anything in your personal life?  Was it difficult or easy to experience and why?). Feel free to use an informal writing style and first person. [4-6 meaty but concise sentences] Section 2. Provide an argument (i.e. convince the reader of your answer) in response to your selected question in one paragraph using the following organization. Please use this format or you will not receive credit for the assignment: —the “thesis statement” of your paragraph or what you intend to prove, including all of the pertinent information that may be involved in answering the question (like the play or performance involved, your key terms, and your assertion regarding the question). —one or two sentences that establishes the context for the evidence you provide. —the specific example or examples from the class experience that best helps you answer the question. —this is the longest part of the paragraph, explaining what the evidence means and how it applies to your assertion and other aspects of the question. Use a formal writing style, and do your best to avoid first person. [1 paragraph—10-12 meaty but concise sentences] 3) You have only a small amount of space to make a lot of mistakes. Be careful Every time you use the title of a play, like , it should be italicized. all caps or underlined. Watch your grammar and punctuation. There is practically no difference between form and meaning. Make your margins 1 inch on all sides and double space your text. Use 12 font, Times Roman. 4) Use action verbs (avoid is, was, were, am) and specific nouns (avoid that, them, those, there) Vary sentence structure and length. *Some of the plays that were watched in class are Inherit the winds, Fences, and Mauritius. They can be mentioned in the paper as examples if they are related to either the Italian or English Renaissance. Beware What Lurks Behind the Bleachers Section 1: I thought was pretty funny, and the night I went a lot of people agreed with me as the audience gave the actors a standing ovation! Though I don’t really agree with the politics of the show (I am against gun control), I thought that the way they presented

cyber bullying was really accurate and reminded me of problems that occurred in my own high school. I really felt for Linda (played by Elizabeth Heflin) and found her grief over the death of her son quote touching. I would gladly see this play again. Section 2: In Teresa Rebeck’s new play , the danger of the media to family relationships appears in the construction of the set and how it represents how people are forced to interact with the media. In , the cavernous main set of a high school gymnasium conceals behind bleachers that open a large, rolling platform made to look like a television studio from Fox News. The character Simon West, a loud-mouthed, conservative television host, rides in and out of the play, shaking a machine gun in the air as he interviews various founding fathers (like Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson) about how we need to get back true American values. s key interview is with Ben Franklin, who explains that what made the founding fathers great people was not that they held conservative values but that they listened to one another and created a country through compromise, though West does not seem to hear the message. Throughout the play, the platform enters and dominates the center of the stage, while the family supposedly watching the show are off to the side at stage left. The director Sandy Robbins clearly makes the family seem much smaller and weaker than West’s show, keeping them off-center and simple compared to the sparkling lights and video that accompany West’s dramatic entrances at the center of the stage. As the various characters watch the show, they are obviously being influenced by what West’s character says, whether it be that it is acceptable to be judgmental of others or that it is fine to own a gun. Lennie’s suicide using his father’s gun can be seen as a direct example of how the physical size of West’s part of the set influence the character’s choices—it is as if they no longer have any. When West actually makes comments about Lennie’s suicide and Lennie’s mother happens to see him, the audience can see in her horrified reaction how much the media influences the events on stage. By having one part of the set take over the entire stage, warns us to be wary of how much we allow the media to literally enter our lives. Response Paper [RP] Grading Rubric This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Ideas and Evidence This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Organization This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Voice This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Word Choice This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome DescriptiSentence Fluencyon of criterion This criterion is linked to a Learning Outcome Conventions