GEK1040

A/P Philip Holden (email: ellhpj@nus.edu.sg)

[ Introduction and Description | Schedule and Readings | Assessment and Policies | Related Resources ]

Week 3

In this week we'll be considering the second of our genres, drama. It's difficult to study drama only from the text of the play, since the play only really lives in performance. In addition to reading Kuo Pao Kun's "The Coffin is Too Big for the Hole" we'll thus also be watching a video of a performance of it. Ideally, read the play script twice--once for pleasure and a second time, having read Michael Patterson's introductory essay "Studying Drama." Try to apply some of the issues that Patterson raises in thinking about the play.

Reading

Kuo Pao Kun. “The Coffin is Too Big for the Hole.” Images at the Margins: A Collection of Kuo Pao Kun’s Plays. Singapore: Times, 2000. 60-71.

Patterson, Michael. "Studying Drama." Introducing Literary Studies. Ed. Richard Bradford.  New York: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1996. 42-58.

Questions

Post a reply to ONE of these questions on the IVLE site at any time before 6 a.m. on the day of our class meeting.

1. Have you ever had the experience of reading a play script and then going to see the play? How did the two experiences differ?

2. Is "The Coffin is Too Big For the Hole" a comedy, tragedy, or tragicomedy in terms of Patterson's definitions?

3. What issues do you think "The Coffin is Too Big For the Hole" raises?

4. Do you think "The Coffin is Too Big For the Hole" would appeal to a non-Singaporean audience?

NUS English Language and Literature

Last updated: 29 July, 2003