Uncivil Civilization in The Hairy Ape
What was the impact of living in an early 20th century industrialized society?
In this 9-12 lesson, students will examine the impact of living in an early 20th century industrialized society through Eugene O’Niell’s play, The Hairy Ape. Students will analyze O’Neill’s portrayal of a world in which spiritual, communal, and behavioral values of the past have been displaced by the lure of technology, materialism, and patterns of cultural barbarism.
Lesson Content
Learning Objectives
Students will:
Examine how societal issues can be the centerpiece for themes and forms of drama.
Probe the ways philosophical and psychological theories shape themes and forms of drama.
Explore the nature of the modern “tragic hero.”
Describe the power of visual and auditory expressionistic elements to help shape set design, narrative, characterization, and theme in the building of dramatic scripts.
Craft essays of critical analysis.
Recognize elements that build artistic tension in dramatic scripts.
Standards Alignment
Examine how character relationships assist in telling the story of a drama/theatre work.
Respond to what is seen, felt, and heard in a drama/theatre work to develop criteria for artistic choices.
Analyze and compare artistic choices developed from personal experiences in multiple drama/theatre works.
Examine a drama/ theatre work using supporting evidence and criteria, while considering art forms, history, culture, and other disciplines.
Formulate a deeper understanding and appreciation of a drama/ theatre work by considering its specific purpose or intended audience.
Explore how cultural, global, and historic belief systems affect creative choices in a drama/theatre work.
Research how other theatre artists apply creative processes to tell stories in a devised or scripted drama/theatre work, using theatre research methods.
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Recommended Student Materials
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Websites
Teacher Background
Teachers should familiarize themselves with O’Neill’s work: Anna Christie, The Hairy Ape, The Emperor Jones, and Beyond the Horizon. Teachers can optionally read The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams to introduce ideas and themes about industrialized society in the early 20th century.
Student Prerequisites
Students should be familiar with Eugene O’Neill’s plays.
Accessibility Notes
Modify text as needed and allow extra time for task completion.
Engage
Have students read the . Arrange students into collaborative groups and have them make a choice from the list of .
Distribute the to students before they conduct research.
Build
Have students read The Hairy Ape aloud in class. If time does not allow for a complete read-through of the play, read at least the first several scenes, as well as the final scene. Assign the additional material as homework.
Explain to the class that reading the role of Yank, the protagonist, requires regional dialect. Audition students for the role of Yank, keeping in mind that Yank’s dialect is essential to the role. Consider having the “Voices” section be read by impromptu one-line responses coming from different parts of the room. Allow for one or two rehearsals of the first “Voices” speech, so that students can develop a rhythm. As the play progresses, ask students to pay attention not only to the movement of the narrative but also to the expressionistic devices used in the play.
After reading the play, have students explore one or more of the . These topics can also be the basis for quizzes, brief in-class writing assignments, oral discussion and/or testing, or formal essay assignments.
Apply
Have students work in small groups to create a diagram that represents the basic structural movement of the play. See the resource for ideas. Ask each group to clarify the rationale behind their graphic representation. Model this activity for students. (Note: there is no right or wrong answer, and each student’s diagram and explanation will likely vary.)
Discuss the patterns that emerge from the diagrams.Ask students: What structural or thematic impact of the play did you illuminate? Have the students compare the line diagrams of The Hairy Ape with the traditional Shakespearean pattern: rising action in the first three acts; climax at the end of Act 3; the beginning of denouement in Act 4; and denouement in Act 5. What differences emerge?
Share the site with students. Have students use their diagram activity to discuss the Darwinian theory of evolution. Ask students: What parallels did you notice between this theory and the themes and forms of O’Neill’s drama?
Reflect
Assess students with one following as a culminating assignment.
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