This assignment requires you to think about the connection between the style of theatre and how the character(s) exemplify the style. You will write a short paper of 3-4 double-spaced pages that focuses on one character from one of the plays assigned early in the term. Your analysis will connect the style of theatre (Epic Theatre or Theatre of the Absurd in either Mother Courage or Waiting for Godot) and make an argument for how and why the character you are examining is representative of that style. We will discuss the requirements of this assignment in further detail at the beginning of the term. You will be expected to properly use MLA formatting. The following link will provide you an example of the formatting requirements:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_sample_paper.html
A character study is dependent on analysis of the character in a play or novel, or other literary example. The study of a character will help you to understand what the play is about; not what happens, but what its message is for the viewer or reader. You can choose any character upon which to focus this analysis, and go into some detail to briefly describe, but then really develop an analysis of why the character is presented as they are.
As in any assignment for an English course, you must have a thesis/argument presented at the beginning, followed by the evidence to support your proposed view, and a clear conclusion that demonstrates how all the elements have come together to prove your argument.
The prompts below will help you gather the information necessary to create an argument about who the character is, what they represent, how they contribute to the overall narrative, and how their representation exemplifies the style of theatre in which they appear. Simply answering the questions will not be sufficient but rather you must construct a logical structure for an argument that resolves the character’s function in the text.
1) What are the physical characteristics of the character (m/f, tall/short, old/young, etc)?
2) What kinds of relationships does the character have with other characters?
3) What conflicts does the character encounter? How do they attempt to navigate these struggles? Do they succeed?
4) What meaning (if any) does the character’s name convey in the narrative?
5) Is the character rendered sympathetically or not? Do we want to like the character? What does this do to our understanding what the play means?
6) Keeping the style of the drama in mind, how does the character reflect that mode of presentation?
7) What does the character contribute to the play? Do they underscore a main theme? Do they support the protagonist or the antagonist? Are they central to the main theme or secondary?
please do not just answer those questions, rather use it to better arguements
https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/4130797/mod_resource/content/1/MOTHER%20COURAGE%20AND%20HER%20CHILDREN.pdf
