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Essay about Literary Review of "The Rooftop Lesson"

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Analysis of “Playwriting 101: The Rooftop Lesson” A short play is usually filled with a theatrical energy of diverse anthologies. The time allotted may be only ten or fifteen minutes, so it must be able to capture and engage the audience with some dramatic tension, exciting action, or witty humor. Just as in a short story, a great deal of the explanation and background is left for the reader or viewer to discover on their own. Because all the details are not explicitly stated, each viewer interprets the action in their own way and each experience is unique from someone else viewing the same play. Conflict is the main aspect that drives any work of literature, and plays usually consist of some form of conflict. In “Playwriting 101: …show more content…

The theme of Orloff’s play focuses on examining these expectations of good playwriting with a surprise lesson being discovered in the end. The Teacher, who is supposedly showing how the scene should play out between the Jumper and Good Samaritan, learns a valuable lesson himself on the craft of writing a good play. The lesson being that in theater, just as in real life, nothing is set in stone and anything is possible. The lesson begins with the Teacher using a remote to click through a series of scenes taking place between the Jumper and Good Samaritan, with the plot not turning out as one would expect. The first scene shown lacks conflict and does not allow for further plot; therefore the Teacher explains that this is not satisfying to the audience. The second scene also lacks conflict, by resolving too quickly, and the third scene is absurd with both characters using unnecessarily foul language that does not appeal to any kind of viewer. As the Teacher clicks through several more poorly constructed scenes the other two characters come to life and revolt which causes the Teacher to lose control. The true comedic events ensue when the Teacher battles with the other characters in order to regain control over the play. Surprisingly the Teacher is the one who becomes the victim to death, thereby creating an example of a well written play. “Playwriting 101: The Rooftop Lesson” essentially mocks the common clichés

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