UNIT: Character Analysis

Date: 3/30/3016

Essential Question: What aspects of the

characters in a script help us to understand who
they are and what they do?

Subject: Theatre Arts

Materials Needed:
Copy of Woyzeck Script, Character Map
Worksheet/Given Circumstances Worksheet

Goal and Objective: B.A.1.2 Analyze informal or

formal theatre productions in terms of the
emotions or thoughts they evoke, characters,
settings, and events.

Teacher: Caleb S. Garner

Lesson Target (Objective)

Lesson Outcome
Students will analyze a selected character
Students will be able to understand
characters through their interactions and
Students will see how character
infer information about the characters by
relationships and given circumstances the
looking at the various aspects of the
characters make up their identity
character as is written in the script and
through character research.
Time Frame
00:05:00

Lesson Detail
Welcome/Review
Yesterday, we saw Woyzeck at
Catawba after reading the play.
Review of Expressionism:
o Art was now meant to come
forth from within the artist,
rather than from the actual
visual world. More
concentration on the
character of the artist's
feelings rather than an
analysis of the composition.
Think of The Scream or Starry
Night.
o I painted the truth!
How is Woyzeck an expressionist
play?
o Episodic Structure - not
presented as a logical series,
but in a sequence of often
very short scenes
o The exact sequence of many
scenes was never finally
determined.

Instructional Strategy
Classroom Talk

Protocol Used
Review and
reflection

00:02:00

00:10:00

00:10:00

There are hardly any

transitions and hardly any
genuine conversations.
o The violent changes of mood
within a few lines.
Segue into Character
o Regardless of how strange
the show may be, the actors,
director, and designers still
had to determine
Intro to Character
We can understand plays as a whole
by analyzing its characters and their
interactions, even in odd plays like
this one, by studying what the
characters do.
When we start looking at character,
we begin with character relationships
and given circumstances.
Aspects of Characters: Existing Relationships
From the script, we can gather the
relationships between characters. In
order to give us a starting place in
determining how the characters feel
about each other, we look at the
existing relationships.
Pass out Character Map Worksheet
A Character map is a visual way to
represent the connections and
relationships between characters in a
play. It can be used as a quick
reference when you are first getting
acquainted with the material.
Are there social relationships? Work
relationships? Religious
relationships? Family relationships?
Dissect and Discuss section of script.
Aspects of Characters: Given Circumstances
We need to understand the world in
which our characters live. The social
systems that affect them and their
cultural factors that shape their
environment are called given
circumstances.
Pass out Given Circumstances
worksheet

Classroom Talk

Classroom talk

Individual
Analysis Work

Writing to learn
Modeling
Write-Pair-Share

Classroom talk
Writing to Learn
Write-Pair-Share

Individual
Analysis Work

00:08:00

0:05:00

We look at four main categories

when thinking about the given
circumstances:
o Events and relationships that
happen before the play, like
the backstory
o The plays when and where:
time, place.
o Social systems of the
characters: political
economic, religious
o Cultural Norms: attitudes
towards class, race, gender,
family, love.
Dissect and Discuss section of script
Review Performance
Look at your two worksheets. Think
about the information you have
found about your character.
Read a short scene aloud with a
partner making character choices
from the information you have
gathered.
Reflection/Closing activity
Complete a 3-2-1 Activity:
o 3 things I learned today
o 2 things I found interesting
o 1 question I have

Collaborative Group
Work

Collaboration

Writing to learn

Personal
Reflection

Formative Assessment (What are you looking for to know if they are learning TODAY?)
Completion of the character worksheet and given circumstances worksheet
Student Observations (Evidence of meeting/not meeting Objective)

Reflections on Strengths/Weaknesses of Lesson

Ideas for Changing or Improving Lesson