PRECIS:
In Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town (1938), he focuses on the importance of human experiences that values life in three acts. Wilder first uses description and imagery to introduce the characters of the play including the stage manager as the narrator, he then develops an authoritative tone because the narrator serves as the audiences’ guide to details of the play and to conclude Wilder’s play exhibits exposition. His purpose is to focus on a small town in New Hampshire that contains the setting of families’ interactions in order to convince people to appreciate everyday life while they live them. He seems to have a relative audience in mind because they can relate to the characters in the play.
VOCABULARY:
· Trellis(11): a frame or structure of latticework; lattice
· Gingham (14): yarn-dyed, plain-weave cotton fabric usually striped or checked.
· Unobtrusively (17): inconspicuous, unassertive, or reticent.
· Pleistocene (21): noting or pertaining to the epoch forming the earlier half of the quaternary period.
· Alacrity (57): cheerful readiness, promptness, or willingness.
TONE:
· Informative.
· Authoritative.
· Expository.
RHETORICAL STRATEGIES:
· Colloquialism: “Baptist is down in the holla’ by the river” (6) “Giddap, Bessie!” (10) “Her stummick ain’t what it ought to be.” (13) “Yes. Somep’n went wrong” (12)
· Metaphor: “Breakfast is just as good as any other meal and I won’t have you gobbling like wolves” (15)
· Authority: “Now, George! You put on your shoes. It’s raining torrents. You don’t go out of this house without you’re prepared for it” (54) “Get out, Rebecca. There’s only room for one at this window” (41)
· Imagery: “Mrs. Gibbs, a plump, pleasant woman in the middle thirties, comes ‘downstairs’ right” (8) “Mrs. Webb, a thin, serious, crisp woman, has entered her kitchen, left, tying on an apron. She goes through the motions of putting wood into a stove, lighting it, and preparing breakfast” (8) “Emily appears from among the umbrellas. She is wearing a white dress. Her hair is down her back and tied by a white ribbon like a little girl. She comes slowly, gazing wonderingly at the dead, a little dazed” (87)
· Satire: “So he got a scholarship to Massachusetts Tech, graduated… Goin’ to be a great engineer, Joe was. But the war broke out and he died in France,--All that education for nothing” (10)
· Anaphora: “Good-by, Good-by, world. Good-by, Grover’s corners… Mama and Papa. Good-by to clocks ticking…”(100)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. In Act I, the milkman, Howie Newsome enters with an invisible horse. What might this “invisible horse” mean or why is the horse invisible?
2. Why did Act I, II & III start with a short prologue and the stage manager’s monologue?
3. How does the setting of Our Town reflect and influence modern towns and families?
MEMORABLE QUOTE:
“When you’ve been here longer you’ll see that our life here is to forget all that, and think only of what’s ahead. When you’ve been here longer you’ll understand” (92)
