Syllabus

Teacher

Doug DeGroot

Course Title

Advanced Oral Communications

Course Description

This course is an elective and is one semester long. Advanced Oral Communications may be taken without having taken Oral Communications first.

Advanced Oral Communications teaches the origin and evolution of theater from Ancient Greece to today. Each student researches a different era of theater history and present their findings to the class in a thirty minute presentation. Parts of this presentation are to be memorized. The presentation is to be a performance. Students trace the evolution of theater through 24 eras. Students discover how theater was used to bring change or prevent change and how theater represented social values. Students learn and perform segments of historical plays.

Class Schedule and General Order of Topic

(Over 4-5 months)

Eras of Theater History

1. Origin of Theater
2. Greek Theater
3. Roman Theater Jeremy
4. Theater in the Middle Ages, Liturgical Drama, Cycle Plays, and Humanism Olivia, Abbey
5. Asian Theater
6. Bollywood
7. Theater in the Renaissance Cassie, Carli
8. Elizabethan Theater Maddy
9. French Theater in the 17th Century Erin
10. Theater during the English Restoration Breanna
11. Theater during Colonial American
12. American Theater 1800-1899 Peyton
13. Modern Theater, Realism, and Naturalism
14. Theater in Moscow, Stanislavsky and method acting
15. Symbolism and departures from Realism: Expressionism, Futurism, Dadaism,
16. Theater in the U.S. 1900-1941 (Not Broadway)
17. Musical Theater and Regional Theater
18. Broadway and Tinpan Alley 1890s-1941
19. Broadway 1942-1980
20. Theater of the Absurd
21. Broadway 1981-Today
22. Hollywood 1910-1941
23. Hollywood 1942-1980
24. Hollywood 1981-Today
25. Puppetry

Classroom Expectations

Other people will respond to you in the same way that they see you treating others. If you are nice to people, then others will be kind to you. If you allow others to talk, then they will listen to you when you want to be heard. If you say mean things (even if joking), they will remember and will do it to you.

Try: Learning takes effort. You can't be passive. Everything about school has something that can benefit you.

Cooperate: We are here together. There is much that you can both learn and teach.

Keep these in mind:

• I will respect others--including myself
• I will respect property--including my own
• I will not bully, hurt, or mock
• I will not use “joking” or “friendship” as an excuse
• I have a right to learn
• I have a right to to be heard
• I am not the only student
• I will respect other students’ right to learn
• I will respect other students’ right to be heard

High School Expectations

• Phones are allowed during lunch, not during class. Your phone will go to the office if you are caught using it.
• Food and drinks are allowed during lunch, not during class. Either will be taken away until lunch or after school.
• Stay in the room: bathroom breaks and trips to the locker are allowed during lunch and between classes.

Grading

Students are graded on daily work, worksheets, essays, quizzes, tests, and speeches. This list is not definitive and other assessments exist.

Grading Scale

A 93-100

A- 90-92

B+ 87-88

B 83-86

B- 80-82

C+ 77-79

C 73-76

C- 70-72

D+ 67-69

D 63-66

D- 60-62

F 0-59

Last

Grades that are As and Fs are both earned. Many tests and many assignments and many questions are easy. Anyone can pass with a little effort. Getting a D or C or B is common. Some classwork is NOT easy. Some questions are hard.

How to Earn an A: Do all parts of all assignments. Be thorough in your work. Keep track of details in factual information. Ask yourself, Do I know 92 or 93 percent of this information? That is one difference between an A- and an A.

How to Earn an F: Do NOT turn in assignments. That is about the most common reason that students do not pass a class, missing assignments. Always turn in something.