Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer-Prize winning play “Our Town”
This week, you read Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer-Prize winning play “Our Town” which tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover’s Corners between 1901 and 1913 through the everyday lives of its citizens. In your essay, you will write a critical response to Wilder’s dramatic work by responding to one of the three following essay prompts.
Essay Prompt: Choose one of the following three prompts to respond to:
· Although it was first performed in 1938, the action of the play concludes in 1913. How does the play speak to the questions, ideas or issues that faced Americans during the Great Depression? Do you see parallels between the troubles faced by the characters in “Our Town” and Americans today? What are some differences that you notice between the social fabric presented in “Our Town” versus the social fabric of our society today?
· The Stage Manager suggests that one of Wilder’s purposes for writing “Our Town” was to document “the real life of the people” for future generations (33). Do you think social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr) is creating a record of “real life” that will accurately inform future generations? Compose a thoughtful argumentation paper that argues for or against the use of social media as a historical record.
· At the beginning of Act Two, the Stage Manager notes that, “Almost everybody in the world gets married,—you know what I mean? In our town there aren’t hardly any exceptions. Most everybody in the world climbs into their graves married (48).” Later he notes: “I’ve married over two hundred couples in my day. Do I believe in it? I don’t know” (82). How has the role of marriage and what we understand marriage to be in American society changed? What do you think accounts for this shift? Do you think people still believe in marriage? Do you think marriage is as relevant today as it once was?
Essay Requirements:
· 1,000 words or roughly four double-spaced pages.
· Be sure to support your response with textual evidence (quotes and citations) from the play itself.
· Make use of at least three scholarly sources to support and develop your ideas . Our course text may serve as one of these three sources.
· Be sure to cite your sources using proper APA format (7th edition).
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