Usc Thtr 595B Vhh Syllabus
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THTR 595B. GRADUATE PLAYWRIGHTS WORKSHOP (4 units) SECTION: 63288D, DAY & TIME: Mondays 12:00-2:50pm, LOCATION: MCC 109. Instructor: Dr. Velina Hasu Houston Professor of Theatre, Resident Playwright, Director of Dramatic Writing; Office Hours: Mondays 10-11 am (by appointment, email confirmation/cancellation 24 hours in advance please). E- mail: [email protected] (preferred mode); Telephone: (213) 740-1292. Office: Drama Center 110. Course Overview: Development of thesis plays utilizing dramaturgical support; simulates professional development process. The course is conducted as a writing workshop. You are encouraged to develop your own vision and individual voice. This requires respecting the foundations of craft while also being courageous about the style of your expression, process, and form. Above all, however, it requires discipline – the discipline to write diligently, ambitiously, and regularly in order to deepen your work and complete it within the constraints of a fifteen-week workshop. You will present their work on a weekly basis, and receive both peer evaluation and intensive dramaturgical mentor feedback. Concurrently, you will participate in writing exercises, focusing primarily on visual art exercises, in order to deepen craft. In addition, you will attend assigned plays on campus and be prepared to discuss their merits with regard to character and story. These varied means will help to hone your theatrical vision and voice in relation to the course project and to your overall literary maturation. Required Texts Naked City, Arthur “Weegee” Fellig, Da Capo Press; ISBN-10: 0306812045/ISBN-13: 978-0306812040. Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph, Eds. Doon Arbus & Marvin Israel; Aperture, 25th anniversary edition, ISBN-10: 0893816949/ISBN-13: 978-0893816940. A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005, Annie Leibovitz, Random House; ISBN-10: 0375505091/ISBN-13: 978-0375505096. "Writer's Block" Busters 101 Exercises to Clear the Deadwood and Make Room for Flights of Fancy, Velina Hasu Houston, Smith & Kraus; ISBN-10: 1575255979/ISBN-13: 978-1575255972 Suggested Readings The Art of the Story: An International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories, Ed. Daniel Halpern, Penguin. The Penguin Book of International Women's Stories, Ed. Kate Figes, Penguin. The Sound of Water: Haiku by Basho, Buson, Issa, and Other Poets, Ed. Sam Hamill, Shambhala. Short Stories by Latin American Women: The Magic and the Real, Ed. Celia Correas Zapata, Modern Library. The Vintage Book of Latin American Stories, Ed. Carlos Fuentes, Vintage Books. Breaking Ice: An Anthology of Contemporary African-American Fiction, Ed. Terry McMillan, Penguin. The Oxford Anthology of Modern Indian Poetry, Eds. Vinay Dharwadker & AK Ramanujan, Oxford University Press. Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose, Mick Short and Michael H. Short, Addison Wesley Publishing. The Ways of White Folks: Stories, Langston Hughes, Vintage Books. The Oxford Book of Short Poems, Eds. P. J. Kavanagh and James Michie, Oxford University Press. Readings in the Philosophy of Language, Ed. Peter Ludlow, The MIT Press. A Walk in My World: International Short Stories About Youth, Ed. Anne Mazer, Publisher: Persea. Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death, Ed. Yoel Hoffman, Tuttle. Burnt Sugar Cana Quemada: Contemporary Cuban Poetry in English and Spanish, Eds. Carlson/Hijuelos, Free Press. Unforgetting Heart: An Anthology of Short Stories by African American Women, Ed. Asha Kanwar, Aunt Lute Books. A World Between: Poems, Short Stories, and Essays by Iranian-Americans, Ed. Persis Karim, Pub. George Braziller. The Best American Essays of the Century, Ed. Joyce Carol Oates & Robert Atwan, Mariner Books. The Norton Book of Personal Essays, Joseph Epstein, W.W. Norton & Co. Borges: Collected Fictions, Jorge Luis Borges, Penguin. Grading Guidelines: Academic integrity is important to the University. The student is urged to remember that professors do not “give” grades; students earn grades. Thus, a final grade is entirely up to the student with regards to the effort he or she chooses to expend to meet course requirements. Please note that late work is given a ten percent (20%) penalty and is accepted only within one week of its due date. The only exception is illness or personal crisis. Here are USC’s definitions of grades: “A” for work of excellent quality, “B” for work of good quality, “C” for work of fair quality for undergraduate credit and minimum passing for graduate credit, “C-” as a failing grade for graduate credit, “D-” for work of minimum passing quality for undergraduate credit, “F” for failure, “IN” for incomplete work, student-initiated after 12th week and only awarded under exceptional circumstances. There will be four categories of grading: 1. Weekly writing (your pages, writing exercises) 2. Visual art character analyses (character sketches maintained in a journal) 3. Assigned plays in production with reportage (history, vocation, inspiration, play, etc.) 4. Final project (full-length play) 10% - Weekly Grade. This evaluates your engagement in writing exercises, dramaturgical and critical discussions of fellow students’ work-in-progress, and critical responses to plays seen in production. 20% - Character Sketch Journal. This evaluates the quality of your journal. You will write character sketches inspired by visual art. These will be maintained in your journal, which you will turn in for review at mid-term and on the last day of class. 20% - Assigned Play Report. In-depth view of one play in production and its playwright. Select from: Pericles by William Shakespeare, Scene Dock Theatre, February 6 – March 7. The Fifth of July by Lanford Wilson, Bing Theatre, March 4–7. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck/Frank Galati, McClintock Theatre, March 4–7. Crocodile Seeking Refuge by Sonja Linden, McClintock Theatre, April 22–25. 50% - Completed Project/Final Exam. Your final project will be a one-act play that you develop over the term of the workshop. You will commit to the story as of the third week of classes. FYI: Calculating stage time from length of manuscript is based upon the amount of dialogue versus stage directions that your plays may contain. Plays should be typed in standard, Samuel French manuscript format, Courier 12 point, bound as standard manuscript format (card stock cover, all-brass brads with 1 1/- to 2-inch shanks); suggested length 50-90 pages. Screenplays must range in length from 85-120 pages typed in standard format using Courier 12 point font, bound as standard manuscript format (card stock cover, all-brass brads with 1 1/- to 2-inch shanks). In standard format, each page equals one minute of screen time. Please do not plagiarize. Grading is determined on the following scale: 96-100%=A 88-90%=B+ 81-84%=B- 75-77%= C 67-70%=D+ 61-63%=D- 95-91%=A- 85-87%=B 78-80%=C+ 71-74%= C- 66-64%=D [Failing Grade for Graduate Credit = C-] When the average falls between two grades, the final grade will be weighted toward the positive end of the scale for students whose attendance and participation in class has been good, but will be weighted toward the negative end of the scale for those with poor attendance and participation. The final project grade is evaluated on a percentage scale: 25% Quality of structure/through-line/plotting, 25% Quality of character development, 25% Quality of dialogue development, and 25% Quality of overall creative achievement and professionalism of project. Please note that the Final Exam is mandatory on a day and time set by the University. Please check the USC website for your exam date/time and schedule appropriately. Assignments may be emailed to the instructor, except for full scripts and scenes over ten pages. Policy of Attendance, Tardies, and Absences You are tardy if you arrive more than fifteen minutes late for class. Excused absences (due to illness, personal crisis, or familial matters) are allowed. Your grade will not be adversely affected unless you have more than three tardies and/or more than three absences. Because we operate as a workshop that requires engagement in process, missing part or all of class becomes problematic. After three tardies and or absences, your Weekly Grade (see Grade Evaluation section) will be lowered by 20 percent for any succeeding tardies or absences. (See guideline on grading in handbook, page 4.) Academic Integrity Dishonesty in any form harms the individual, other students, and the School of Theatre. Therefore, USC policies on academic integrity will be enforced in this course. Papers suspected of containing plagiarized material (the unacknowledged or inappropriate use of another’s ideas, wording, or images) will be verified for authenticity by the School of Theatre through Internet services. I expect you to familiarize yourself with the academic integrity guidelines found in the current SCampus (www.usc.edu/dept/publications/scampus). Disability Services Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 am to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSP is 213-740-0776. Communications Notice Each student is required to maintain a USC usc.edu e-mail account, which is available free of charge. Each student is required to checks his/her e-mail on a regular basis and definitely every Wednesday evening for any notices pertaining to class. The professor’s e-mail is noted at the top of this contract. Course Assignments 1/11. Review of principles of dramatic writing. Introduction to visual art and season of plays (plays in production assigned to students). Discussion of semester projects and commitments, including characters, story overview, and key character life events.