In order to introduce the idea of reading plays, and in order to distinguish between plays and novels, we will be reading a series of plays.  As a class, we will tackle a play titled "Rumple Schmumple," an award-winning ten-minute play from the 2003 Kennedy Center Ten-Minute Play Festival.  

On Block Day, we will break up into groups and read a series of plays written by Thornton Wilder at the end of his life.  It is a seven-play series inspired by the seven deadly sins.  I have linked all the plays here to the left, but each group will only read one of these plays.  

The Glass Menagerie is a play about family.  The particular family that the play focuses on is in a constant struggle, with members of the family having issues with each other and with the outside world.  The play revolves around a specific event in which the mother, Amanda, desperately tries to marry off her nervous, introvert daughter in any way she can, despite any argument from her daughter or her son, Tom.  Tom is the Narrator of the play.

We will be studying this play in order to discuss Narrative Speeches, that is a speech that is used to tell a story or convey an event.  Usually these speeches are personal and are meant to engage an audience while also conveying the facts.  This is an essential kind of speech to study, as it is the foundation of my other kinds of speeches, such as ceremonial speeches or propositional speeches. 

Content Warnings: Mentions of wine and drinking (none seen onstage), accusations of visiting the "cathouse" (an old fashioned term for a brothel)

The Merchant of Venice is a classic Shakespearian drama about Justice and Choice.  It tells several stories (like many plays of Shakespeare do), including one about a man who borrows money from a Jewish money lender and several about couples falling in love. 

We will be studying this play in order to discuss Proposition of Fact Speeches, that is a speech that focuses on establishing that something “is or isn't” or is “true or false.”  These are speeches that  present a logical argument based on objective facts which can then be used to build persuasive arguments.

Content Warnings: This play is rife with anti-Semitism

The Seagull by Anton Chekov is one of the greatest pieces of theatre from Russia.  It is the story of a mother and son who both work in theatre but have vastly different opinions about what theatre should look like.  The son struggles with depression, especially after his mother decides to start dating a man about his age who is a much more prolific playwright than he is himself. 

We will be studying this play in order to discuss Descriptive Speeches.  Descriptive Speeches are a type of informative speech that creates an accurate mental picture of a specific person, place, or thing.  These will likely be the most artistic of the speeches that we study. 

Content Warnings: Attempted Suicide, Tabaco usage in the form of Snuff.  Additionally, there is a movie version of this that adds a scene with partial nudity.  I will not be showing the movie or clips from it, but if a student wants to watch it, one should be aware. 

Hamlet is one of the most famous plays of Shakespeare, and it tells the story of a man whose father is murdered.  The man is then compelled by the ghost of his father to avenge the death, but the man struggles with the morality of murder. 

We will be studying this play in order to discuss Instructive Speeches. These are speeches that Instruct the listener to do something and do it correctly.  

Content Warnings: Multiple deaths shown on stage and discussed, Mostly by sword or knife

Tartuffe is considered one of the greatest French plays.  It is a political commentary disguised as a household drama, in which the man of the house a man named Tartuffe to stay in his house and advise him on matters, all while Tartuffe attempts to seduce the man's wife and enjoy all the pleasures of living in another man's home. 

We will be studying this play in order to discuss Introductory Speeches, which are speeches that introduce a topic or person that others may or may not know about in an effective and concise manner. 

Content Warnings: There are many scenes of seduction.  None are successful but 

Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare's History plays, and it tells the story of the conspiracy to assassinate the Roman general and statesman to prevent him from becoming a tyrant. 

We will be studying this play in order to discuss Proposition of Value Speehes. These are speeches that focus on persuading an audience that something is “good or bad,” “right or wrong,” or “desirable or undesirable.”

Content Warnings: Lots of death.

Freud's Last Session is a play about an imagined meeting between C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud and the debate on God that follows, and discussions of the nature of their relationships with people.

We will be studying this play in order to discuss Proposition of Position Speeches. These are speeches that includes a statement calling for an action. The action is examined to determine whether such an action would be desirable or undesirable.

Content Warnings: None.

Henry V is a History by Shakespeare that follows King Herny V in his rise to power. 

We will be studying this play in order to discuss Motivational Speeches. 

Content Warnings: Death and Murder