Voices of History: Dramatic Monologues

1. Dramatic Monologue • A literary composition in which a speaker reveals his or her character, often in relation to a critical situation or event, in a monologue addressed to the reader or to an audience.

2. The Challenges of a Changing America Character Monologues Civil Rights Movement

3. What is a historical monologue? • Monologue = a speech given as if you are a particular individual • Note: In the cases of dialogues, make sure the connection is natural.

4. Steps & Goals • Select a person from history • Research the person’s life, accomplishments and impact on history. • develop a dramatic monologue in which you speak as though you are that character. • Your goal • Provide the audience with a “slice” of the character’s life. • You do not want to give a simple biography of the person(s) • choose a significant or interesting moment in his/her life and express the attitude and personality of the character at that time. • Your monologue should demonstrate your understanding of the character and help the audience appreciate and understand him/her.

5. Requirements • Formally present your monologue to an audience of your peers and teachers. • Presentations should be approximately 3 minutes • Each person should prepare a costume and dress as their character. • Each person should have either a visual to accompany their presentation or a prop that corresponds with the theme of the presentation.

6. The Schedule – subject to change Tuesday, May 1st Introductions Homework  Begin thinking about the character you’d like to research Wednesday, May 2nd and 3rd Pre-search in Library and Bibliography reminder Topic selection sheet due on Friday Homework: Read and begin to learn about your character from the research you have gathered May 7th and 8th Research in library: Get to know the character, begin proposal May 9th Proposal and background information due May 18th Conference day with Miss I May 22nd Rough Draft due May 31st Completed script due Works Cited Due May 30th Presentations begin in English class!

7. Decisions to make??? • Decide if you are more comfortable working alone or with another person • Choose a historical character(s) that you are intrigued by. • Choose a format that fits your personality as well as your historical character • Choose a moment / event in which to focus on… No biographies.

9. The Great Depression (1929-1939) Herbert Hoover J. Edgar Hoover Clarence Darrow Jane Addams Machine Gun Kelly Pretty Boy Floyd Amelia Earhart Margaret Mitchell John Herbert Dillinger Charles Lindbergh Mohandas Gandhi Henry Ford Oscar De Priest Albert Einstein Paul Robeson Bonnie and Clyde Marian Anderson Al Capone Joseph Adonis Scottsboro Boys Thomas Dixon, Jr. Dr. Ossian Sweet

10. The Great Depression (1929-1939) Popular Culture: Lou Gehrig Babe Ruth Duke Ellington Louis Armstrong Writers: John Steinbeck Langston Hughes W.E.B. Du Bois Harper Lee Zora Neale Hurston Pearl Buck Ernest Hemingway F. Scott Fitzgerald

11. The Civil Rights Movement (1954-1970) • Civil Rights Movement • Jackie Robinson • Martin Luther King Jr. • Malcolm X • Stokely Carmichael • Thurgood Marshall • Elizabeth Eckford (Little Rock 9) • Rosa Parks • Individual involved in Birmingham Bus Boycott • Ernest Withers (photographer) • Alice Walker (author) • Huey Newton & Bobby Seale • Shirley Chisholm (U.S. House)

12. The Civil Rights Movement (1954-1970) • Popular Culture: • Elvis Presley • The Beatles • Robert Frost • Kurt Vonnegut • Muhammad Ali • Jackie Robinson

13. The Civil Rights Movement (1954-1970) • Women’s Rights • Betty Friedan • Jackie Kennedy • Gloria Steinem • PhylissSchlafly • Mary Tyler Moore • Counter-Culture • Tom Hayden (SDS) • Mario Savio (FSM) • Hawks v. Doves • John Lewis (SNCC) • John Filo (Kent State photographer)

14. Best Tips… • Be Creative! • Think outside the box! • Be willing to step outside your comfort zone. • Consider ways to move around (transitions) and ways to use your visual. • Have fun with it!