Research Off-Broadway Theater and its significance for young, experimental playwrights in the 1960s and 1970s.

Identify the "bastard French tradition" named by Kopit and its influence on the playwright as evidenced by Oh Dad.

Investigate and compare the treatment of dysfunctional families in Oh Dad, Edward Albee' s Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and one other American play identified as belonging to the Theatre of the Absurd.

Investigate the techniques of parody and relate your findings to Kopit's purpose, techniques, and characterizations in Oh Dad.

Research the assaults on American "momism" that preceded Kopit's depiction of Madame Rosepettle in Oh Dad, using Philip Wylie's A Generation of Vipers (1942) as a resource.