Study Guide for the UCC Test Out Option
According the the Undergraduate Catalog, the University Core Curriculum is designed to help all Ball State students realize from their college education's these core benefits:
Knowledge---those facts, concepts, and principles from the humanities; the social, behavioral, and natural sciences; and from other disciplines that are deemed important for understanding and solving the common problems of living.
Skills---key intellectual abilities such as communicating, quantifying, analyzing, and synthesizing.
Values---preferred patterns of behavior, including respect for individual dignity, concern for group welfare, and trust in human intelligence.
The central purpose of the University Core Curriculum is to enable women and men to live rich, satisfying lives and to undertake the broad responsibilities of citizenship in a free society. Although it seeks to discover and nurture individual talents, the core curriculum's primary emphasis is on preparation for roles that people share in common as human beings as well as members of family and community groups.
The Theatre 100 'test out option' is designed to assess the breath of knowledge, the awareness of skills, and the values associated with human, artistic, performance, or theatre. The test is derived from the bank of questions for the regular Theatre 100 UCC course, and is based on the assumption that a passing grade on this test would demonstrate that the student possessed such competencies and knowledge's.
When you are ready to take the test, you must make a reservation to do so (surf to the UCSlabs homepage, and follow the links to computer based testing lab, and then to 'make a reservation'), and then go to the Computer Based Testing Lab (RB 134d) to take the test at the time you have chosen. Click HERE for specific instructions on accessing the test.
What follows are the 'study questions' upon which the test questions are based:
Is Art distinguishable from "real life" by an artist's intention to create or craft something that will evoke a certain kind of response--an "aesthetic response"--from its audience?
How does Theatre resemble life and various performances within life?
How did a scholarly field called "performance studies" develop?
Who said "all the world's a stage, /And all the men and women merely players."
How does theatre use and is used by nearly all the other arts (painting, music, dance, etc.)?
Is theatre a thing, definable in ways similar to ways in which a film is also a thing?
What are the "appeals" of theatre?
If theatre is art and therefore distinguishable from non theatrical performances, like a street fight, what is the primary quality of art that separates it from those other activities?
What are the characteristics that give shape to the nature of theatre as a "performing" art?
How is "theatre as art" specifically defined?
How is Theatre a social art not only among the audience members who have gathered socially but also among the actors, directors, and designers?
What is the protocol for actors who "milk" the audience for applause?
What is the "sense of groupness" in theatre?
How have Theatre audiences today compared to theatre audiences throughout history?
How are bad performances and bad audiences related?
What are "healthy audience members?"
What specific factors contribute to an audience's sense of groupness?
What is "permission" and how does it operate?
What are the usual signs of a badly prepared audience?
What are appropriate (or desirable) responses to theatre?
How does "Language" reveal "character?"
Is music present as a factor even in plays that have no music?
What are the various types of characters in a drama and how do they function in relationship to each other?
How does even the silliest comedy express deep meaning?
How do the six parts of Aristotle, plot-character-idea-language- music-spectacle, help us understand plays?
What are the various genres (tragedy, comedy, etc.) of plays?
What are the characteristics of each form?
What are the different parts of plots?
How do the different parts of plot operate in relationship to each other?
What are the different types of plot?
What must readers do (accommodate, change, realize, etc.) as they read plays?
What are the theatrical elements in a production that can be analyzed?
What role does an audience member's knowledge about the art of theatre play in critiquing theatre?
What must an audience member do (at the same time) to intelligently analyze a performance?
Which of Aristotle's parts do we give the least thought to in performance but often the most once we leave the theatre?
What is the difference between a surprise and an accident on stage?
Which of Aristotle's six parts does performance tend to de- emphasize in analysis versus reading a play?
What are part of a production's "given circumstances?"
What constitutes an appropriate "response" to seeing theatre?
What is the difference between plot and story?
What is the difference between dramatic and theatrical style?
How are dramatic and theatrical style related?
What are the relationships between Off-Off-Broadway, Broadway, and Off-Broadway (what plays do each typically produce, when did each start, why, etc.)?
When did theatre first begin to appear in American colleges and universities?
When did professional theatre first appear in America?
How do the functions of educational theatres differ from those of the regional professional companies?
What is the relationship between political theatres (e.g. feminist, black, Latino, gay) and middle-class white males?
Where is the theatrical center of the United States and how does it affect the rest of the country?
What is the average family social status of Broadway theatergoers?
What are the main theatre/stage shapes?
How does each of the theatre/stage shapes affect audience/actor relationships?
What are the major benefits of regional theatre?
How many people make a living as playwrights, and where do authors typically work if they are not writing for theatre?
What has been the relationship between playwrights and audiences throughout history?
How is "dramatic dialogue" different from everyday speech?
What are the "inviting conditions" for the formation of new playwrights?
How does a playwright's background (where they come from--the theatre or other fields) influence his or her contribution to the art form?
What are Goethe's questions that help assess the worth of a play and a playwright?
What do playwrights create concerning human behavior?
What do novelists create concerning human behavior?
What do poets create concerning human behavior?
What does "playwright" and "playwriting" suggest about the nature of plays?
What does "wright" mean?
What is the nature of the process that actor's undergo to "train their instrument?" How long does it last, etc.?
What is the relationship of "talent" to the three parts of an actor (consciousness, instrument, and imagination)?
Who first articulated the "paradox of the actor," and what does it mean?
What is signified by "opening night?" and what does it mean, in practical terms, for professional actors?
What is the difference between a good performer and a good actor?
What system for training actors still dominates actor training in the United States?
What system of actor training, if any, can be considered "the best?"
In order to be convincing, how must an actor balance the tension between "being" and "pretending?"
What are the five parts of Stanislavsky's actor training system, and what does each mean?
The conflict between "natural" and "artificial" acting has long been a part of theatrical history. What characterizes that conflict?
Inspirational/technical actors are not the same as "inner" or "outer" actors. What is the BEST explanation of the difference between the two groups?
What do actors do to assist in "training the imagination?"
What roles do each of the three parts of an actor perform (consciousness, instrument, imagination) as actors do their jobs?
What steps are usually taken in the preliminary training of actors that helps actors over come the mistaken idea that the physical self is located in the head and face, that the voice is located in the mouth and throat, and that we are grounded to the world through gravity to our feet?
What term identifies the undeniable givens that an actor must accept (age, sex, state of health, social status, educational level, etc.) of the character s/he is to portray?
What do actors do in script analysis and why do they do it?
What typically characterizes "good acting?"
Why does an actor build a character (or a construct) that fits into the artistic whole of a play rather than simply build a character that is merely a good imitation of a human being?
When did directors appear?
What does a director's job include? Are all "good directors" excellent in all areas?
What happens when directors seek "merely to do the play?"
What role does casting play in a production?
Why did directors appear?
What do each of the following mean in the context of a theatrical production?
A. rhythm
B. movement
C. blocking
D. stage relationships
E. visual symbolism
F. focus
G. mood
H. composition
How long does it take a good director to assess an actor during auditions?
What are the different types of rehearsals, and what new things are added at each one?
How does a director modulate or vary the action so that an audience does not get bored or lost or confused?
What are the differences between heretical and worshipful directors?
What is manipulated when effects are played against each other or against a norm for contrast?
What characterizes "good directing?"
What factors (concept, tone, mood, etc.) will be the most influential for a director in developing the environment for a production (more than one is correct)?
What characterizes the director/actor relationship?
What are the characteristics of technical directors and what is their relationships to the other designers?
What functions do sound designers have now, and are they as important as other designers historically were?
What is the position of theatrical designers in the worlds of artists and artisans?
What is the paradox between the way designers work and the way they make design decisions?
What has been the historical importance of stage design?
What does a lighting designer manipulate to influence an audience's sense of mood and tone?
What does a lighting designer manipulate to change the apparent shape of an on-stage object?
What are the factors found in the text of the script that govern how the designers create their world of the play?
What are the responsibilities of the scenic designer?
What are the responsibilities of a costume designer?
What are the three fundamentals that a lighting designer manipulates?
What characterizes good design?
What is the role and function of a reviewer?
What is the role and function of a critic?
What is the role and function of a theorist?
What is the status of performance theory?
What has been the history of theories of theatre over time?
Where are theatre critics most likely to be found? Why?
Where are theatre reviewers most likely to be found? Why?
Where are theatre theorists most likely to be found? Why?
What are the basis for postmodern theories?
What characterizes dramaturgs (what do they do, who are they)?
What characterizes an ideal theory?
What reaction did the early Christians have towards theatrical performances in the Roman Empire?
What effect did the early Christians have on performances in the Roman Empire?
What modern comparisons (modern t.v. shows) might be made to Greek comedy?
Why do scholars disagree about the origins of theatre?
Who was Euripedes and what was the path of his fame?
What factors assist (or hinder) our understanding of Greek theatre?
What factors assist (or hinder) our understanding of Roman theatre?
What was the relationship between Greek and Roman theatres?
What are the shared features of Greek and Roman theatre?
What are the various theories of the origins of theatre?
How do each of the theories on the origins of theatre differ?
Who was Seneca and why is he famous?
Who was Plautus and why is he famous?
Who was Terrence and why is he famous?
Who was Horace and why is he famous?
Who was Aristotle and why is he famous?
Who was Thespis and why is he famous?
Who was Sophocles and why is he famous?
Who was Aeschylus and why is he famous?
Who was Euripedes and why is he famous?
Who was Aristophanes and why is he famous?
When and why did Greek actors become professionalized?
What are the characteristics of Greek theatre (relationship to religion, etc.)?
What are the characteristics of Roman theatre?
During most of the Middle Ages, what characterized both the secular organization (feudal) and the religious one (Catholic Church), and how were they related to each other?
What characterized the audiences for early in-church theatre?
Who was the "master of secrets" and what was he/she in charge of in medieval drama?
What position does Shakespeare and his plays occupy in modern repertory?
Who wrote most medieval drama?
What was the position of the of individual ego in the medieval paradigm?
What characterized audiences who attended plays in non church venues?
When did each of the two halves of the Roman Empire collapse?
What was the major contribution to theatre of Inigo Jones?
Who was Ethelwold, Bishop of Winchester and why is he famous in theatre?
Who was Hroswitha and why is she famous in theatre?
Who was Horace and why is he famous in theatre?
Who was Lope De Vega and why is he famous in theatre?
Who was Terrence and why is he famous in theatre?
What kind of theatre was the Globe Theatre, the principle playhouse for most of Shakespeare's plays?
What is a platea?
What are mansions in medieval theatre?
What are scaffolds in medieval theatre?
What were pageants in medieval theatre?
What characteristics did Spanish and English "Golden Age" theatres share?
What characteristics did Spanish and English "Golden Age" theatres NOT share?
What were the shared features of most of Shakespeare's plays?
In what kinds of venues was secular drama performed in the Renaissance?
What changes to production practices characterized the move of religious drama to outside the church by 1350?
What were important factors that lead to the Renaissance?
What were the characteristics of Shakespearean productions (not his play texts, the productions)?
What important traits did the theatres of the Middle Ages and those of the Golden Ages of England and Spain share in common?
Who developed most of the revolutionary ideas that shaped theatre in the pre modern age and how did other countries benefit from those developments?
What was the status of actors in France during and after the Renaissance?
How did the Italians solve the contradiction that existed between neoclassic ideals (for play texts) and artistic ideals (for play stages)?
What does Neoclassicism literally mean and from where did its primary influences come?
Where were early theatres in France constructed?
What effects did "forced perspective" have on Renaissance theatres?
What was the French Academy and why was it important to theatre?
What was the Comedie Francaise and why was it important to theatre?
What was the Court at Versailles and why was it important to theatre?
What characterizes or best defines the genre "Comedy of Manners?"
What characterized a commedia dell'arte troupe?
What are the parts (and definitions of each) of the "rules" for Neoclassicism?
What characterizes or is the best definition of "Sentimental Comedy?"
What play is considered the "perfect" neoclassic play and why?
What characterized English theatre after the restoration?
What are all the parts (and their meanings) of the complex concept of "verisimilitude?"
What characterized the relationship between power and art during the reign of Louis XIV?
What characterized (the physical qualities and actor placements) "Italianate" staging?
What were typical subjects (themes, plots, etc.) for early American musicals?
What role did revivals of Shakespeare play in the Romantic theatre? Why?
What role did photography play in the development of illusionism in theatre?
Who wrote most serious dramas that were written by Romantic playwrights? Why?
When and why did the split between serious drama and entertainment become permanent?
When and why were audience members eliminated from the stage?
In the early and mid 19th century, burlesque was originally what kind of theatre presentation?
What role did the size of a theatre play in Romantic theatre?
Despite the complexity of Romanticism, there were some basic characteristics shared within the movement. What were they?
What country set the standard for comedy for the rest of the world by 1850?
What characterized the changes within the dominate paradigm called "illusionism" during the Romantic post Neoclassic age?
Who was Richard Wagner and why was he important to theatre?
Who was Andre Antoine and why was he important to theatre?
Who was Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and why was he important to theatre?
Who was Goethe and why was he important to theatre?
What was the most popular form of drama for the Romantics? Why?
What were the predominately lower class audience members who sit in the cheapest seats called during the Romantic Age?
What eventually replaced the "stock company" as the dominate form of theatrical organization after about 1830?
What were important factors in the rise of Realism as a reaction against Romanticism?
What are the tenets, or main ideas, of Romanticism?
What are the tenets, or main ideas, Realism?
What are the characteristics of melodrama?
What were factors in the decline of Broadway's commercial theatre after 1930?
What were the shared characteristics of the Romantic theatre from 1750 to 1850?
What were the assumptions that guided scenery and special effects for the Romantics?
What changes characterized the rise of commercialism in theatre after 1850?
How did the avant garde influence plays in the modern repertory with theatrical techniques and ideas?
Are any of the plays written in the early "isms" still staged today?
How long does the avant garde usually last as a version of the art form?
What does the term "avant garde" literally mean?
Who are the most important and influential theatrical innovators for most of the theatre that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s?
What did Impressionism, as a style in theatre, seek to capture and reproduce?
What are the tenets, or main ideas, of Artaud's theory for a "Theatre of Cruelty?"
What are the tenets, or main ideas, of Epic Theatre?
What are the tenets, or main ideas, of Impressionism?
What are the tenets, or main ideas, of Absurdism?
What are the tenets, or main ideas, of Constructivism?
What are the tenets, or main ideas, of Symbolism?
What are the tenets, or main ideas, of Expressionism?
What are the tenets, or main ideas, of Dada?
Which theatre artists are most closely associated with each Ism?
What were the main concerns about Realism facing the avant-garde in both Europe and America?
How did the theatre since 1960 reflect the contradictions and uncertainties within the US society?
As ticket prices have risen, both audiences and repertories tended to grow more conservative.
How do new plays typically appear on Broadway?
What has typically influenced the avant garde in American theatre since the 1960s?
What are the shared traits of performance art in theatre?
What avant garde group advocated a return to simple values in a complex world through a theatre that used found materials,building community, and giant puppets?
What changes did contemporary, modern theatre undergo that was influenced by the avant garde in the 1960s and 1970s?
Although the major noncommercial movements of the 1960s and 1970s(Gay Theatre, Feminist Theatre, Black Theatre, etc.) had very different constituents and practices, they shared some basic assumptions about both theatre and society. What were those shared traits?
What was true for the major noncommercial theatrical movements of the 1970s as they appeared (changed) in the 1990s?
What characterized American musicals during the period which followed 1960?
What is the role of African universities with regards to "real theatre" in those countries?
What has characterized the historical role of theatre in Islamic countries?
How does indigenous, traditional theatre and so called "settler theatre" exists in most third world countries?
What is Noh theatre and how is it produced in modern times?
What is the most popular form of modern theatrical activity in India?
What role has international mass communication and high-speed, cheap transportation played in the development of contemporary art.
What characterizes the thoughts of critics and scholars on the place of rituals within the general category of "theatre."
What are the shared traits of traditional Eastern theatre?
What are the paratheatrical forms of indigenous activity found in third world countries?
What are the shared similarities among African dramas?
What characterizes rituals, as opposed to Western Theatre?
Good luck on the test!