Students examine the meaning of marriage and the role it plays in civilization in this scene from the MASTERPIECE 2003 production of the play, Our Town. The Stage Manager (played by Paul Newman) delivers a brief sermon just before the marriage of Emily and George, the two youthful protagonists of the play. The Stage Manager acknowledges that marriage is considered a sacrament by some, yet it can also cause confusion and uncertainty. See Teaching Tips for how to use the video in the classroom. This resource, aimed at ELA and drama teachers, is part of the Masterpiece Collection and accompanies other resources from Our Town: The Way We Were and A Good Rest. [1:50]

Students analyze the Stage Manager's final speech in this scene (1:15) from the Masterpiece 2003 production of the play, Our Town. Played by Paul Newman, the Stage Manager concludes the play in the same calm, reasonable, and folksy way he began it. Like the play itself, the ending is deceptively simple. See Teaching Tips for how to use the video in the classroom. This resource, aimed at ELA and drama teachers, is part of the Masterpiece Collection and accompanies other resources from Our Town: The Way We Were and Love and Marriage. [1:15]

"The Piano Lesson," the 1930s-era drama from August Wilson's century cycle is discussed in this video [5:16] from August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand. The video features commentary on the ways in which "The Piano Lesson" reflects the African American experience.

This site from Bibliomania contains the full text of five of Moliere's plays including "The Misanthrope". Links are provided to navigate through which play the reader wishes to choose. A good site to get full text on Moliere's plays.

This collection uses primary sources to explore Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This site is a collection of copyright-free literature ranging from nursery rhymes to philosophy to literature from many time periods and cultures. There are more than 6,000 texts, and over 1,100 of them are accompanied by audio readings. The site was originally designed to help English language learners, as users can hear as well as see the texts. It is also useful for those who are hearing-impaired, as well as anyone who is looking for simple access to these texts.

As one of literature's most iconic figures, both Shakespeare's plays and poetry provide an interesting glimpse into a variety of essential themes. In this lesson, students will examine how Shakespeare used the sonnet tradition to enhance his stagecraft by performing a scene from his play Romeo and Juliet.

Online lesson that allows students to study and follow a Shakespearean character throughout a play, analyzing their actions, traits and dialogue as clues to characterization.

Unwrap the layers of meaning in the deceptively simple plot, characters, and dialogue of Wilder's "Our Town," a play about small-town America that continues to resonate today. This collection includes three videos and teaching materials.

This is a collection of three videos from the MASTERPIECE 2003 production of "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder with teaching materials.

Online lesson which uses Hansberry's "Raisin in the Sun" to teach the concepts of symbolism and theme in a dramatic work. Students learn the importance and significance of these terms as they study this work and other works of drama. RL.9-10.2 and RL.11-12.2 Analyzing Theme, RL.11-12.3 Auth choice story elem

Students analyze dramatic works using graph theory. They gather data, record it in Microsoft Excel and use Cytoscape (a free, downloadable application) to generate graphs that visually illustrate the key characters (nodes) and connections between them (edges). The nodes in the Cytoscape graphs are color-coded and sized according to the importance of the node (in this activity nodes represent characters in the work and their relative importance to the story). After the analysis, the graphs are further examined to see what the visual depiction of the story in the form of a graph tells readers about the inner workings of the dramatic work. Students gain practice with graph theory vocabulary, including node, edge, betweeness centrality and degree on interaction, and learn about a range of engineering applications of graph theory.

Explore the various points of view the British people had about fighting Hitler and Germany, in this video [1:26] excerpt from World on Fire, Masterpiece. Neither Robina Chase, an upper-class mother whose son is a soldier, nor Douglas Bennett, a working-class father who has been a pacifist since suffering shell shock during World War I, strongly supports the war. As they discuss recent developments at Dunkirk, each hopes for a swift resolution of the conflict, but for different reasons. Teaching materials are included.

Investigate the effect that World War II-"total war"-had on a generation of young people, in this excerpt [2:26] from World on Fire, Masterpiece. When two young people, who had fallen in love just as the war began, meet up unexpectedly a year later, their lives have been dramatically changed. Kasia, a young Polish Resistance fighter, is weary and pessimistic. Harry, an English soldier, holds out hope that their love will help them overcome the trauma of war. Teacher tips are included.

Discover the ways in which Nazi ideology encompassed more than hatred against the Jews, in this video [2:22] excerpt from World on Fire, Masterpiece. When American reporter Nancy Campbell meets with Dr. Voller, who runs a "clinic" for those deemed inferior because of physical or mental disabilities, he explains the Nazi rationale of eliminating anyone who would "infect" the superiority of the so-called Aryan race. Teacher materials are included.

This site is a drama unit for fifth graders created by the Yale New Haven Teachers Institute. The site provides plenty of background information, a bibliography, and much more.