Lesson Overview:

One of the most compelling aspects of Sondheim's work is his experimentation with diverse structural designs. His genius in design is especially evident in the provocative ways he constructs nonlinear structural frames that still achieve organic unity, and thus singularity in artistic impact. What does all of the above mean? And how does Sondheim achieve it? These questions will be explored in this lesson.

Length of Lesson:

Five 45-minute periods

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

• strengthen research skills in Web, print, audio, and video media.
• define "linear" and "nonlinear" structural patterns and relate them to the two Sondheim musicals focused on in this lesson, including the structural patterns of individual song lyrics and music scores.
• explore the connection between the cultural climate of modern life and "fractured" form in the fine and performing arts.
• consider ways that "organic unity" is achieved out of nonlinear structural patterns.
• explicate various components of two of Sondheim's musicals, giving attention to specific ways songs, music scores, narrative, and theme interrelate.
• examine the nonlinear structural patterns of the story line of the two musicals, individual song lyrics, and music scores.
• compare theories about the nature of the creative process and art form.
• raise questions about the purposes art serves.
• initiate student design and performance activities related to musical theatre.
• strengthen the process skills of reading, writing, and analysis, and exercise oral and collaborative skills through assignments of formal essays, oral presentations, and special project topics that draw across the lines of the activities of the curriculum unit.

Instructional Plan:

Activity A

The goal of this activity is to explore the difference between linear and nonlinear structural patterns. Initiate a large group discussion in which students inductively construct definitions of these terms (linear and nonlinear). Ask students what the word "linear" means, then clarify their responses with specific examples, such as simple graphs, letters of the alphabet, the narrative pattern of a story (beginning, middle, and end), etc.

Have students probe the ways in which they think linear patterns can be broken. Again, have students demonstrate with specific examples: drawings on the board, kinetic displays, musical patterns such as rounds and/or polyphonic harmony, etc.

Ask students to consider specific ways that nonlinear structural patterns could be developed in literature. Encourage them to recall specific stories, poems, or plays that use—for instance—flashbacks, an interplay of past and present time, simultaneous time or settings, or interior monologues played against empirical observation. Specific examples could include:

• The war poetry of Siegfried Sassoon
• Ernest Hemingway's short story, "In Another Country"
• Arthur Miller's play, Death of A Salesman
• Tom Stoppard's play, The Inspector Hound General

Construct a lesson on the use of imagery as a way to achieve nonlinear structure. Consider initiating the lesson with explication of Ezra Pound's poem, "In a Station of the Metro." Point out that Pound initially called his "Imagists" school of writers "Vorticists." Explore the possible meaning of the term. What is a "vortex"? How could an image work to emulate the whirlwind power of a "vortex"?

Assign students to develop a formal written explication of a literary selection that has a nonlinear structural frame. The explication should include an analysis of specific ways the structural framing is fractured, and a clarification of the primary theme or statement that emerges from the selection.

Activity B

Share with students the following statement by Stephen Sondheim: "In every show, there should be a secret metaphor." Generate a brainstorming discussion about what Sondheim means by "secret metaphor." How would the creative process be affected if one was trying to construct a production that developed from a secret metaphor. Encourage students to see that a secret metaphor could become a centrifugal force, pulling all aspects of a production to a singular center.

Introduce the idea of "concept structuring."

a. Discuss the meaning of the word "concept."

b. Discuss examples of poems or stories that are bound together primarily by an emerging concept. Examples could include:

• Edwin Arlington Robinson's poems, "Circumscribe" or "Karma"
• Robert Frost's poems, "Desert Places" or "Nothing Gold Can Stay"
• Emily Dickinson's poem, "Crumbling is not an instant's Act"
• Langston Hughes's poem, "American Heartbreak"
• Adrienne Rich's poem, "Storm Warnings"
• William Carlos Williams's short story, "A Use of Force"

Assign Robert Frost's brief essay, "The Figure a Poem Makes." Consider using one of his statements as a basis for examination of some of the above sources. For instance:

• "We (the poets) need the help of context … all that can be done with words is soon told."
• "A poem should begin in delight and end in wisdom."

Assign a creative writing exercise in which students develop a vignette of prose, dramatic script, or poem that uses a specific concept or secret metaphor as the hidden agenda. Suggested concepts include:

• separate peace
• unrequited love
• revenge
• friendship
• nostalgia

Advise students to let the concept emerge, in Frost's terms, "on its own melting." Have students share their work with the class, and ask them to identify the hidden agenda or secret metaphor that binds all aspects of the piece together.

Activity C

Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along is an excellent source for study of nonlinear form and concept structuring. With this in mind, divide the class into collaborative groups. Have each group research the musical and complete the following tasks (students may use print, Web, and other resources for their research):

a. Outline the plot of the musical.

b. Construct a graphic display that explains the structural development (the reversal pattern) of the musical.

c. Develop a written analysis of specific ways that the music, score, and lyrics are used to build and reinforce the structural design. The analysis should include an explanation of Sondheim's statement that the musical's story line gave him the opportunity to use "verbal and musical motifs [that could be] extended and developed, reprised, fragmented, then presented to the audience in reverse." This analysis must be handed in to the teacher.

d. Reach a consensus about Sondheim's secret metaphor in this musical. Each group should define what it perceives to be the embedded concept that brings organic unity to the full development of the musical. (In other words, the groups should identify the organizing principle that binds diction, story line, character interaction, score, lyrics, and technical elements into a cohesive whole that projects a statement beyond the boundaries of the text.) The groups must each develop a written statement of their conclusion, complete with some specific evidence that argues in support of that conclusion.

Activity D

This activity focuses on Sondheim's musical Sunday in the Park with George. To initiate a study of this musical, assign students to read "The Real Thing" by Henry James and "Tradition and the Individual Talent" by T. S. Eliot. (Parts I and II). Follow the assignment with an in-class writing activity in which students give a brief definition of what they think James means by "the real thing" as the concept emerges from the story, and what Eliot argues in his essay about the relationship of "tradition and the individual talent."

Assign students to research—in print, Web, and audio media—the book and music/lyric scores of Sunday in the Park with George. Each student should construct an overview of the story line and the characters. Divide the class into collaborative groups. Ask each group to closely examine the lyrics of four of the songs from the musical: "Beautiful," "Finishing the Hat," "Sunday," and "Move On."

Have students explore (in written form) ideas about the process of creating art and the nature of art as they are presented by James and Eliot, and (either directly or inferentially) through Sondheim's lyrics. Students should compare the three perspectives and examine the arguments made about these topics.

In a large group discussion, have students share their personal perceptions of the creative process and the nature of art. (Does art exist for art's sake? Is its purpose to achieve perfection through imagination?, etc.)

Optional: Have students perform similar comparative analyses about the creative process and the nature of art using the lyrics from Sunday in the Park with George and another literary work, such as:

• William Wordsworth's "Preface" to Lyrical Ballads
• excerpts from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Biographia Literaria and/or his Lectures on Shakespeare
• excerpts from Edgar Allen Poe's essay, "The Poetic Principle"
• excerpts from Part II of William Dean Howells' collection of essays, Criticism and Fiction (specifically, his "real life" and his "real grasshopper" theories)

Note: The above sources (excerpted) can be found in The Norton Anthology of English Literature and The Norton Anthology of American Literature. (See the Sources section for complete bibliographic information.) At first glance, these selections may seem formidable for 10–12 grade assignments; however, with appropriate guidance, students can often access the key ideas in these works and engage in provocative discussions about them. The Sondheim lyrics are a rich addition to this bank of observations on the creative process and art form. James Joyce's, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and/or Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray are two other excellent sources that can be compared with Sunday in the Park with George and its ideas about the creative process of art and the nature of art.

Tell students that Sunday in the Park with George won a Pulitzer Prize. Consider giving students some general background on this honor, and initiating a discussion of what specific aspects of the musical they thought qualified it to be awarded the Pulitzer.

Return to a consideration of the activity on nonlinear versus linear structure. Assign students to construct:

1. a list of the ways that the structure of Sunday in the Park with George fractures linear design.
2. a list of what specific aspects of theme and form in the musical forge the fractured pieces into an ordered, cohesive whole.

Return to Sondheim's statement about "secret metaphor." Ask students what they think Sondheim had in mind as his secret metaphor when he developed his work in this musical.

Initiate a discussion of the definition of the art term "pointillism" and the technique of painting used in this school of art. Share a print or video projection of George Seurat's painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte for close study of the theme and technique of development. Ask students to identify specific crosscurrents of development between the painting and the musical. Encourage them to go beyond the obvious connections of the narrative to reach for subtle parallels in theme and form. Raise the question of whether or not they think that the art process of "pointillism" has anything to do with Sondheim's secret metaphor.

Consider developing an assignment that addresses different sources students have read that incorporate ghosts; for instance, Shakespeare's Hamlet and Macbeth. Encourage students to consider the artistic purposes of the ghost figures in other sources they have read. Ask how they would handle ghost scenes on stage, focusing particularly on how they would stage the great-grandmother's visit in Act II of Sunday in the Park with George.

Suggested Culminating Assignments: Analytical Essays

Have students compose an essay on one of the following topics:

• The critic Martin Gottfried comments that Stephen Sondheim is a "principled practitioner," and that his shows have "uncompromising integrity." Define what Gottfried might mean by "integrity" in the context of art in general and musical theatre in particular. Draw from one or more of the Sondheim musicals you have examined to build an essay in which you explain specific ways Sondheim achieves "integrity" in his work. Consider both theme and form in constructing your analysis.
• All four musicals examined are built around some kind of obsession. Choose one of the four as a case study, then explore the ways that obsession threads through the production. Consider evidence from the narrative, characterization, and song lyrics. Also, consider ways the music underscores obsession as a strong current of development and unifying force.
• Define the term "interior monologue." Select song lyrics from the four musicals examined that qualify as interior monologues. Use one of the lyric samples as a centerpiece of an essay in which you explicate the statement(s) emerging from the lyrics and clarify what the song contributes to the artistic purpose of the specific scene of the musical in which it is embedded. Remember that the reader will need some brief frame of reference about the musical in general to understand the implications of your analysis.
• In his essay "The Art of Fiction," Henry James argues that "good" art must have a "moral purpose." Consider each of the four musicals examined. Does each project a moral purpose? Select one of the musicals and develop an essay in which you build a position about the question of moral purpose. Define and support your position with specifics from both the narrative and the lyrics of the musical you select.

Assessment:

Assess the students according to the following criteria:

• evidence of growth in explicating skills and skills of comparative analysis
• quality of participation in discussion, collaborative, and special projects
• discernment in constructing conclusions
• evidence of enhanced level of self-confidence in oral presentation and performance activities
• willingness to risk-take in problem-solving and special project activities
• advancement in writing skills and formal oral presentation skills, demonstrating fuller development, enhanced structural power, more persuasive argument of point
• sustained focus on material presented
• evidence that student is becoming informed about musical theatre, with increased understanding of and appreciation for the creative process
• evidence that student has gained understanding of specific ways Stephen Sondheim fits into the cultural landscape of the performing arts of the last half of the twentieth century and the contemporary time period
• evidence that the student perceives the interrelationships existing between musical theatre and other disciplines/genres of the fine and performing arts

Peer evaluation should be based on rubrics that help students evaluate each other on collaborative, writing, oral presentation, and performance skills.

Extensions:

Possible Topics for Special Projects

• In an interview at a craft seminar at the New School in New York City, Stephen Sondheim indicated that his musical Into the Woods had been influenced by Carl Jung's theories on fairy tales, noting that he and James Lapine had consulted with a Jungian analyst when they were developing the musical. Who is Carl Jung? Have students prepare a special oral presentation for the class in which they share research on general background of Carl Jung, and specific information on his theories about fairy tales. Include in the presentation some analysis of Jung's influence on Into the Woods.
• Have students role play an interview with Stephen Sondheim. Identify a hypothetical place where the interview is being held. Carefully prepare specific questions to be asked.
• Have students who are talented in singing prepare a song or songs from one or more of the musicals for class performance. Accompany the presentation with a brief explanation of what the song contributes to the overall development of the musical.
• Students who are interested in dance can select one episode from one of the musicals to choreograph. They should consider how choreography can compliment a narrative. For instance, they may explore how choreography can:
• move the story line forward.
• serve as a statement of emotional context of a character.
• reinforce the background setting of the episode.
• help to interpret the cultural environment in which the musical takes place.
• Have students perform the choreography for the class, either in groups or individually. Explain the artistic purpose of the dance vignette.
• Students who are interested in music theory may prepare a presentation on a portion of the musical score from one of the musicals. Have the students delineate the musical configurations and clarify the ways that the lyrics align with the instrumental score. They should also explain how the score helps to build and underscore the dramatic tensions of the musical.
• Have students who are interested in studio art develop a drawing or painting in pointillist idiom.
• Allow the class to create a storyboard for a musical. Divide the class into collaborative groups; each group should fulfill one of the following responsibilities:
• develop ideas for a concept or narrative and suggestions for structural framing. (Note: the entire class must agree on these ideas.)
• propose a set design.
• develop a musical score and libretto (students should propose ideas for songs, or if possible, create an actual music composition).
• outline possibilities for choreography (if possible, students should stage actual dance performances).
• propose ideas for costuming.

If time allows, have the class develop and perform one vignette from the storyboard plan.

 

Sources:

Print:

• Abrams, M.H. and Stephen Greenblatt, eds. Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7th edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999.
• Baym, Nina, ed. Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1998.
• Joyce, James. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. New York: Penguin, 1993.
• Sondheim, Stephen, et al. Merrily We Roll Along. Dodd Mead Publishing, 1982.
• Sondheim, Stephen, et al. Sunday in the Park with George. Applause Theater Book Publishers, 1991.
• Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. New York: Modern Library, 1998.

Web:

• Celebrating Sondheim: Audio and Video Recordings
  http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/exploring/mt/sondheim/sond/audio_video.html
 

Authors:

• Jayne Karsten, English, Grades 9-12
  The Key School
  Annapolis, MD US