Blogging on Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs

Actor from The Cincinnati Playhouse at the Park production
of Brighton Beach Memoirs (Photo credit:  behindthecurtaincincy.com)

What do we blog about?

Well, we're all reading the same play, so we don't want to summarize (as always).  Instead, you can provide brief context for what part of the play you're discussing & use examples from the play, but your main purpose is to have an analytical focus for each post.  You can write about one of the options below or feel free to get a different topic approved:

• Literary elements you see in the play
• Conflicts (how they arise, how they define characters, etc.)
• Characterization:  
• actions, dialogue, or lines that define a character
• character's motivations
• Relationship between plot line and structure of a play
• Close reading of stage directions where you're looking for clarification
• Events in the plot that serve as a major turning point
• How unique traditions, values, or practices function within the specific society of your play and reflect that society's values
• Themes developed in the play and morals reinforced by characters' fates
• How literary elements serve a theme (revenge, regret, fluctuation of power, gender relations, loyalty/betrayal, tradition)
• Mythology/Fate/Prophecy all are concepts highly regarded and of considerable importance to the Greeks, as we read in Oedipus. Examine any one (or more) of these topics as it functions in the play you are reading. In what ways does the concept impact the plot/characters/theme of the piece?
• Identify an ironic moment.  What does the ironic moment reveal?  How does that moment of irony impact the overall plot?  Impact individual characters?
• Identify and analyze a character's tragic flaw.  How did this flaw become their downfall?

Things to keep in mind for this type of assignment:

• You're writing online, but this isn't social media, which means no text-speak or slang.  Write in an academic language.
• Use this space as practice for properly writing literary analysis (writing in present tense, avoiding 1st/2nd person pronouns, using active voice, being succinct)
• Don't let your work disappear forever somewhere in the land of lost internet posts.  Be smart & save your work.  Some people like to work in Google Docs, MS Word, or Apple Pages first.  Then, just copy & paste all you've typed into Blogger & add some bells & whistles (i.e. pictures, links, videos)

Timeline for posting & commenting:

• 4/22:  1st blog post due (Act I)
• 4/25:  comment on 2 posts
• 4/29:  2nd blog post due (Act II)
• 5/2:  comment on 2 posts
• TOTALS:  2 blog posts & 4 comments
• NOTE:  posts & comments are due on stated due date by 11:59 p.m.  
• DON'T PROCRASTINATE!

Other requirements:

• 250-300 word count
• For each post, you must include at least one picture, video, or link.  Be sure that whatever you add is relevant to your post.  You must also discuss the connection between your writing and the picture/video/link within the post.
• Comments should be at least 3 sentences that add or extend the post.  Be sure to ADD and EXTEND instead of just agreeing with the writer.  Comments are not a place for jokes, sarcasm, or your own use of hyperbole.
• Quote evidence from the play & use proper MLA format for embedded citations (MUST IDENTIFY ACT & SCENE IN YOUR PARENTHETICAL CITATION!)  Use Purdue OWL if you need MLA assistance.