What do you think of Jacobs-Jenkins use of comedy to get his audiences to think about tough issues? Explain

Step 1: Check out the link on the syllabus to the show and determine when you will attend.
Important: check under “Required Performances” on Blackboard and read any information
posted there BEFORE you attend the show.
Step 2: Attend the show! Sit, listen, and allow yourself to WATCH the play. The play is
meant to be experienced, so let yourself do just that. Remember: cell phones must be
turned off once you enter the theater! Be sure to get a program, as you will need the
information listed in order to complete this assignment. Save your ticket as well (turn in
with your paper—along with the program).
Step 3: During intermission or after the show, draw pictures, make notes within your
program, or TALK about the show with a friend — whatever it takes to keep your
impressions fresh in your mind.
Step 4: WRITE a double-spaced, 2-3 page response to the performance (use the questions
below as a guide). Spelling, grammar, and presentation count.
——————————————–
“Because, it’s like, ‘Well what makes me a black
[playwright]?’ I mean, I guess, it’s that I’m black, but
then, it’s like, why isn’t Sam Shepard a white
playwright?” Jacobs-Jenkins asks. “It just feels like it’s
qualifying something, and I don’t know why or what it’s
qualifying exactly.” Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins, playwright

“An Octoroon” is performed now in the same way that it was written in the mid-nineteenth
century: as a melodrama. Melodrama (a play with music) has broad characters, clear moral
tones and plays “over the top”—especially to modern audiences.

Jacobs-Jenkins (the playwright) uses comedy to talk about subjects that audiences—both
black and white—find reprehensible: slavery, bigotry, racism. In the following link, Jacobs-
Jenkins is interviewed about his use of comedy. Listen to this clip and respond:

http://www.wnyc.org/story/making-comedy-out-slavery-and-prison-life/

What do you think of Jacobs-Jenkins use of comedy to get his audiences to think about
tough issues? How did you see him use comedy in “An Octoroon”? What if Jacob-Jenkins
had chosen to show these issues in a less comedic, broad way? Above all, comment on
HOW Jacob-Jenkins chose to deal with these topics of race.

Whenever possible, use direct examples from the play.
—————————————————————————————
IMPORTANT—READ!
Please be careful not to provide me with a synopsis of the play or a
step-by-step description of your physical experience, i.e., how you
got there, where you parked, etc. I want you to reflect on your
emotional and intellectual response to the experience. You do not need to
be a sound designer or a theater director to tell me what you saw and what
effect it had on you. Trust your instincts and back up your thoughts with
examples from the performance.
——————————————————————————————-
PERFORMANCE RESPONSE: GAN OCTOROON/MIXED BLOOD THEATRE
NAME:
DEVELOPMENT (15): ____________
Details are sufficient to make the analysis both vivid and unique
for the reader
UNITY AND FOCUS (15): ___________
Essay has a dominant impression that unifies the portrayal of the
subject
All details are directly relevant to the dominant impression or
main focus of the essay
PARAGRAPHING (10): ______________
Introduction and conclusion are present
Each paragraph in the body of the essay contains only one major
supporting point that is developed fully
The order and arrangement of the paragraph is logical and
appropriate.
There are natural and smooth transitions between paragraphs
SENTENCE COHERENCE AND STRUCTURE (5): ______________
Sentences in your paragraphs flow logically from one to another
Sentences are clearly written and grammatically correct
DISCUSSION (5): ________________
I am present, prepared and engaged in our class discussion of the
performances (11/20)
TOTAL: /60