Mastering Performance Analysis: Crafting a Compelling Essay

School

University of California, Berkeley**We aren't endorsed by this school

Course

THEATER 26

Subject

Accounting

Date

Dec 11, 2024

Pages

Uploaded by ChancellorEnergy15981

TDPS 26: Fall 2024INTRO TO PERFORMANCE STUDIES: PERFORMANCE ANALYSISDue Date: Nov. 1525% of final gradeYour Mission:Write an essay of approximately 4-5 pages that makes an argument about a performance in response to one of several prompts that will be posted on bcourses. (You may also write your own prompt and respond to it if and only ifyou clear it with Prof. Fawcett or your GSI at least 1 week before the paper is due.) The performances may not be ones we have discussed in class; the prompts will ask you to apply some of the theories and keywords we’ve learned so far this term to help you to close-read and understand a performance that you may not have encountered before. You should organize your essay around a clear, specific, and arguable thesis statement that teaches us something new about how the performance means. This thesis statement should develop from the details you see in the performance itself. (And it’s really important that it worksthis way and not the other way around; in other words, use the details in the performance to develop a thesis rather than thinking of a thesis and then scrambling to find details in the performance that will back it up.)If this sounds daunting, keep in mind that this assignment is building on what we’ve been doing throughout this semester. In your Thick Description assignment, you noticed details about a performance and began to think about what they might mean. In our lectures throughout unit 2, we’ve been thinking about arguments others have made about how performance works, and in unit 3 we’ll be thinking about how to apply these arguments to new performances (by, for instance, thinking about how Sedgwick’s definition of queerness helps us to analyze Joe Goode’s 29 Effeminate Gestures). In the Performance Analysis, you’re combining all of those skills by noticing details about a performance and then using those details as evidence for an original argument about how that performance is working (perhaps informed by some of the theories we’ve been reading).Objectives:Hone your skills as a spectator by connecting specific words, images, gestures, acting decisions, or design elements of a play or performance to the larger questions that play orperformance is asking. Think about the same questions you asked in your Thick Description assignment: what is happening here? What patterns can we recognize in whatis happening? How does it make us feel, and why? Use these details to develop an argument about what the performance is trying to door why it is interesting.Your argument should be shaped by the evidence—the details you’ve noticed about the performance—rather than the other way around. In other words,begin by thinking about the details you think are crucial to the performance, the ones you’d want to be sure to include in a thick description of that performance. Then, think about how these details shape your experience of the performance. DO NOT decide on anargument and then pick and choose the details that support it while ignoring those that don’t. Think about how this argument is informed by or might be in conversation with the work of the scholars, theorists, and performers we’ve studied this term. What are thekey terms or (even better) the key questions that some of the theorists we’ve studied are asking about performance? How might the details you’ve noticed in this performance help you to answer those questions, or help you to answer them in a different way than the theorists have? How might some of the theorists ideas about how performance in general works, on the other hand, help you to understand how this performance in particular works?

TDPS 26: Fall 2024Teach us something new about a performance by noticing new details, or new connections between details, that your classmates might have seen but might not have noticed. (To see and to notice are, after all, entirely different skills!) Or, help us see a newangle or a possible complication in a theory we thought we knew. In a Performance Analysis, you can assume that your audience is other members of the class, who have attended the same lectures and performances you have. Make us see how your paper will add to our understanding of a theory or performance rather than just reiterating what we already know. (Some people call this the “so-what” question; as in, So what? Why shouldI care what you have to say about this performance? How will your argument teach me something new?)Learn how to write clearly and concisely for a particular audience and by a certain deadline. Your brilliant thoughts on a work of art won’t be nearly as meaningful unless you can communicate them effectively to an audience of your own!Words to the Wise:This assignment asks you to think like a scholar as well as like an artist. When you are viewing a performance, ask yourself: What is this performance tryingto do? What is strange or confusing about this performance? Why would the performers have made it strange or confusing? What are those moments of confusion doing?If you’re stumped about what questions to ask a performance, you might go back to the Elinor Fuchs reading at the beginning of the semester (if the performance you’re writing about is a play) and think about the questions they ask. You might also take a look at two super-helpful documents created by our own Abigail DeKosnikc about “How to Write a Theatrical Performance or Performance Art Critical Analysis Paper”—they’re assigned for 11/4, when we’ll be discussing them in depth, but you can also find them under “Assignments” if you want to take a look at them ahead of time. The key terms listed on the “In Terms of Performance” website will also be useful to you as you write this paper: as we’ve been discussing in class, they are great examples of howartists and scholars use certain terms and theories to better understand a performance, andhow they use the details of a performance to make an argument about that term or theory.When watching and writing about a performance, don’t forget the skills you developed inthe Thick Description assignment, and pay attention to the smallest details. Why does the performer use one word instead of another? How are certain gestures or images repeated?How do they change with each repetition? How do things like sound, light, or color guideyour response to a performance? Pay attention to what emotions (sadness? confusion? laughter?) you experience as you watch each performance, and then ask yourself what precise moment of the performance prompted that emotion and how it did that. (Don’t forget that one of the advantages of watching the performance online instead of live is that you can—and should!—watch it again and again.)

TDPS 26: Fall 2024Performance Analysis Grading Rubric for:(name)Close Reading and Use of Evidence/20Does the author analyze how the performance means rather than summarizing what it means?Are the close readings focused on form rather than on content? Do they analyze the decisions that performers make to influence their audience members by paying close attention to things like language, appearance, and source?Does the evidence provided match the conclusions that the author draws about it? Are the close-readings plausible?Thesis/20Is the thesis statement clearly articulated early in the essay?Is the thesis statement arguable? In other words, does it:oHave a plausible counter-argument?oFocus on language and structure rather than character and plot?oDevelop?oTeach us something new?oAnswer the so-what question?Is the thesis statement plausible given the evidence from the performance?Does the author develop their thesis from the evidence rather than thinking of a thesis statement and then selecting only the evidence that backs that thesis statement up while ignoring the evidence that might complicate the thesis statement?Is the thesis statement written in clear, concise language that the reader can easily understand?Understanding/20Does the author address the questions in the prompt?Does the author’s use of a theory or keyword (if applicable) demonstrate an understanding of that theory or keyword?Does the author make it clear how the keyword or theory can shed light onthe performance, or how the performance can complicate or add to our understanding of the keyword or theory? Does the author make it clear how their analysis is in conversation with the other scholars, theorists, or artists we’ve studied this term?

TDPS 26: Fall 2024Originality/20Are the points that the author makes about the performance or theory original? Do they add to rather than just reiterating things already discussed in lecture? Do they teach the intended audience (other students in TDPS) something new? Does the author’s essay adhere to rules about plagiarism? Grammar and Writing Style/20Does the author lead the reader logically through his/her/their thought process, from the evidence to the conclusions drawn about that evidence?Are the sentences easy to read? Do they communicate the author’s thoughts effectively to the reader?Does the author consider his/her/their audience, avoiding jargon that might confuse the reader or colloquialisms that might endanger the author’s credibility?Does the author use citation format correctly (including citing not only thetheories but also the performances they are writing about)? Did the author proofread for typos and spelling mistakes?Deductions for Latenessdays x 5 = TOTAL:/100