COMS 301: Performance, Language, and Cultural Studies

The questions will be graded in terms of how accurate, specific, insightful, and concise they are. An accurate answer offers the correct information. A specific answer is well supported with pertinent examples (e.g., from readings, discussions, lecture notes and in-class performances). An insightful answer shows some careful thought on the writer’s part. A concise answer accomplishes the above in an efficient, well-organized manner.

To realize the above aims, I suggest you: (a) read the questions carefully; (b) review the required readings and your notes on the in-class performances; (c) draft each answer; and (d) refine the drafts into a final draft format – e.g., eliminate redundant information, firm up your support, and correct grammar, typos, and the like. And please WRITE IN YOUR OWN WORD, which mean do not use “  ” to quote all the sentence in the book , paraphrase the sources if needed. NO OUTSIDE SOURCES.

YOUR ESSAY MUST BE AT LEAST TWO PAGES AND SHOULD NOT EXCEED THREE PAGES, DOUBLE-SPACED, STANDARD MARGINS AND FONTS. **Use a header to include your name and course number, or hand write your information on the margin of your final printed copy. In other words, you don’t need to put your professor’s name ,course number or date …

QUESTION 1

Using Meade, Goffman, and any of the postmodern theories from the readings, discuss your understanding of the differences, if any, between social roles and identity, between the constructed self and the “true” self. Does a true self exist outside of social roles? Then, discuss your adapted or transformed scene (the second scene) and identify the conventions and stylistic principles used to create it. Specifically, discuss the performance in terms of WHAT genre or character conventions you selected for your translation (be precise); HOW, specifically, you expressed those conventions in vocal and physical delivery, language changes and staging choices; and what, for you, was the specific EFFECT of the adaptation or transformation. For instance, what did the translated scene reveal about the genre, character style, or source content? What did it call your attention to, or make you see differently (defamiliarize)? What impact did it have on you as a viewer or consumer of popular culture performances? Or did it have another effect on you? Specific examples from the performance are important to answering this question thoroughly.

This is Your own Scripts:

Source text 1

a scene from Little Britain USA- “Carol Beer in Hospital”

(a character contest from a YouTube clip )

Cast of Characters:

Carol Beer: is a perpetually bored and extremely unhelpful woman who works at St. John hospital in Pennsylvania. She is a receptionist requiring the use of a computer. She is unwilling to use any human initiative or common sense to help her customers, and portrayed as rude and unreasonable. Although it was obvious that she made up most of what the computer apparently said, she is more blatant in this case, as she types almost nothing into her computer. She also makes no allowances in regard to age.

Old lady: an American who had an accident and broke her arm this morning. She needs an arm x-ray to check her arm at the hospital.

[Scene: It appears at 2pm in the hospital. British receptionist’s Carol Beer has brought her own unique sense of fun in the workplace of this hospital in Pennsylvania. She was about to have lunch break. While she was sitting at the reception, the old lady came in and asks for an appointment of x-ray. ]

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