Research Paper Assignment

Objective: Historical research is an important part of your theater training.

Sometimes research of this kind has a direct relationship to your practical work as
an actor, director, designer, etc. It is also an essential part of your academic
training. You will be asked to study and think critically about specific historical
periods in your upper-level Theater Studies courses. The objective of this
assignment is to give you experience with historical research as well as to nurture
your ability to formulate an argument that can be supported with evidence.
Description: In a six-to-eight-page paper, you will critically examine a production or
performance from U.S. theater history. Your selection must have taken place
between 1850 and 2000. A critical examination of a production involves studying
the historical material through secondary and primary sources and formulating an
argument that you then advance in your writing.
Completing the paper successfully requires you do the following:
1. Identify a time period in U.S. theater history (from between 1850 and 2000)
that interests you.
2. Using secondary sources, read around the period to learn about what was
happening theatrically at that time.
3. Choose a production/performance that intrigues you.
4. Research the production using secondary and primary sources.
5. Formulate a thesis or argument based on the material you have read.
6. Build an outline that shows how you will advance your argument successfully.
7. Start writingdrafting

8. Complete a well-crafted final paper that demonstrates your knowledge of the

subject and your ability to advance an argument.