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Objective

Objective: Scene 1 According to Harold Clurman, Clifford Odets' plays are "dated." Odets writes in the language of his characters, be they educated or not, working class or upper class, American or foreign. He also writes in the language of his time, using slang words like "flivver" and palooka. Consequently, the language for which he is so highly praised may be difficult to comprehend or may sound like a foreign language to contemporary audiences. This lesson will help students to adapt to Odets' language.

1) Play Reading-Part I: Assign students or accept volunteers for roles as readers, three critics, and contemporary audience members. Critics are to record all words and phrases not in common usage that they believe would make the scene difficult to understand and the page numbers. Other students act as audience members whose task is to record their comprehension of the scene, by rating the following...

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