- The play premiered in May 1992 as Mamet's first production at the Back Bay Theater Company in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- It also appeared off-Broadway in New York City's Orpheum Theatre.
- It premiered in London in 1993 at the Royal Court Theatre.
- A 2004 production in London at the Garrick Theatre featured Aaron Eckhart and Julia Stiles.
- Julia Stiles reprised the role of Carol in a 2009 production and on June 30, 2009 it transferred to Broadway's John Golden Theatre.
- Due to poor ticket sales, it closed December 6, 2009 with 65 performances and 12 reviews.
Discussion Questions:
1. Do you believe that the tests (ex. standardized test) are designed to discredit students?
2. Do you agree with John when he says that education is "prolonged and systematic hazing"?
3. Was Carol right to claim John as a sexist or was she overreacting?
4. Do you think Carol was putting on an act in Act I(about her not understanding the concepts) versus later on in the play where she spoke fluently about John's flaws as an educator?
5. Was Carol writing the letter to the Tenure committee about John an act of revenge? What are her motives?
6. What does Carol want from John? What does she want him to understand about this incident? What is she trying to prove?
7. Why does Carol tell John not to call his wife "baby"?
Response to #1 (Hannah Martin)
ReplyDeleteI do not think that standardized tests are designed to discredit student. Call me a fool, but I believe professors when they claim they make tests that will give them an even distribution of grades.
I would agree, however, that teachers often test you on things they think are important that you might not, but in life you are going to have to see things from other peoples point of view. So really, testing is a lesson in its own right.
Most professors, similar to John in the play, are willing to work with students who are having a hard time with the material. If John wanted to discredit his students and particularly Carol, he would not have offered help to her. Teachers are people too and, just like John mentions in the play, they have felt inadequate at some point just like the rest of us.
Also, i think Carol is insane lol.
-Hannah
I felt that there was a struggle of power between the two characters, like I've seen in "The Lesson." The student is strong, in the beginning of the play, but she loses strength and begins to decay as the play goes on. The teacher is fragile, in the beginning, but becomes strong and vital in the end. I think that was what was occurring with John and Carol. In the beginning, he had the power, and she didn't understand much of his work; but, towards the end of the play, Carol has the power, and, all of a sudden, understands John's work, and John doesn't have much to say. It's like he is stunned by the sudden knowledge and power that she has.
ReplyDeleteI think that John wanted to live the "American Dream," but he wanted to show his students that he was a bad a** and that he didn't care what society thought of him. He wanted to show them that he didn't follow the societal norms but challenged them. When his "American Dream" was threatened, he cracked and admitted to Carol that she was right about the things she was saying about him. (This is towards the end of the play, and I'm writing this because I wanted everyone to know what I got from it.)
ReplyDeleteI think many people were overreacting about Carol being crazy. She seems like a very intelligent young lady to me; she just didn't have much confidence in herself, in the beginning. Once she discovered the power she had, she blossomed into it. And I think the "group" is just a couple of friends, or students, that she complained to and they all decided to fight against the mistreatment of teachers, and John was the first to take down and be made an example of.
Do you believe that the tests (ex. standardized test) are designed to discredit students?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that they're designed to descredit students, but it sure does happen alot. Not to brag, but I'm one of those guys that knows how to take most test, especially standardized ones. I don't study at all because I know most of the tricks, the curves, the stats...just about everything you need to know. I'm a fast learner too and I think I'm very intelligent;all of these things work in my favor, but someone else could have all of these qualities and traits and bomb a test. Teachers also are a factor in this because some of them are cool and they'll help you when you need help and others are just assholes and should probablly be shot (no offense) because they do absolutley nothing, including teaching the material. The student also plays a roll because they're obviously the one's taking the test. Some people get lucky, some people crack, others get by by the skin of their teeth and the rest either know what to do, have no clue or always get the same results no matter what they do. So, as usual with me, I think it depends. I know I answer most of my questions like this playing devil's advocate and all, but that's just how I am...maybe that's why I'm a dawg at standardized test lol.
I agree with Mercedes too. This reminded me of The Lesson in so many ways.
I also think that like Dottie, Carol was one of those not to bright on the surface chicks, but underneath, she was a geniuse in her own way. She semed to be a clever girl because to me, she had all the power for most of the play and depending on how you interpet the ending, she never truly gave it back. John was the man and Carol took that from him almost instantly, now that's scary. A girl who seemed to know nothing was suddenly running the show, that doesn't sound like a maniac to me.
ReplyDelete1. Do you believe that the tests (ex. standardized test) are designed to discredit students?
ReplyDeleteI believe that standardized tests are designed to credit the students for their overall knowledge, not discredit them. Although this may be why they are created, I do not particularly agree with the standardized testing evaluation. I personally am not a good standardized tester. In high school I maintained close to a 4.0 but suffered in the ACT department. Even my friends who were in the regular classes had higher scores than me. Although it was frustrating, I realized that this was not an overall assessment of my knowledge, I was just a bad test taker.