Alfred, Whitman Plan Varied Bibliography For Humanities 8

"Experiences of the Drama," Humanities 8, "will attempt to help the student gain more enjoyment and understanding from dramatic literature," William Alfred, assistant professor of English and one of the two lecturers in the new General Education course, said yesterday.

Although plans for the course are still uncertain, Alfred and Cedric H. Whitman '38, associate professor of Latin and Greek and co-lecturer in Humanities 8, disclosed some of their tentative ideas for reading material ranging through the plays of the Greek dramatists, Shakespeare, Moliere, Ibsen, and Pirandello. "I would like to also consider some medieval plays, especially Everyman, and also Beckett's Waiting for Godot, which is essentially medieval."

The write-up in next year's catalog states, "the course will progress from an investigation of pure drama to an investigation of the uses of drama in lyric poetry, opera, the novel, the motion picture, and television."

For novels, Alfred felt that works like Joseph Andrews and Little Dorrit were good examples of the use of dramatic techniques. Whitman added, "we may have the students study operas of Mozart and Verdi."