Notebook entry- Scene I of Fences

Click open and read the above attachment:  “Introduction to Tragic Drama.” August Wilson, Fences, Act I , Scene I  Please read the instruction and the questions carefully. Use quotations as your explanation. Write in response to the following prompts about Act I, Scene I of Fences.  Save your responses on a WORD DOC or PDF, and submit them to me no later than 11:59 pm on Friday (3/266). 1.  Wilson begins the play with an exposition that not only describes the setting  of the Maxson front yard and porch but also includes a section called “The Play” that offers some historical background.  While an audience watching a performance of the play sees the setting, they are not made aware of the immigration history that Wilson includes in the text itself.

What does this section add to your understanding of the characters and the issues they may face (the themes of the play) as you read through Act I, Scene I? 2.  In the first few pages of the first scene (Wilson 1122-24), Troy and Bono talk about a co-worker named Brownie.  What do you learn from their dialogue not only about Brownie but also about Troy and Bono?  What do you make of Troy’s attitude toward his job?  How does the dialogue about Alberta complicate your understanding of his character? 3.  As you read through the rest of Act I, Scene I, what strikes you as the most revealing exchanges among the characters?.  What do you learn about Troy and Rose and Cory and Lyons?.  Speculate about what strands of the plot are introduced here.

Further Guidelines

What so far do you know about Troy’s relationships with his wife and his sons–what tensions between the characters are introduced?  What pieces of dialogue might you quote as examples? 4.  Troy doesn’t want his son Cory to play football, which might earn Cory a college athletic scholarship.  Why?  Does Troy have good reasons, in your view?  The dialogue about his own lost opportunity in baseball establishes the theme of racism and whether or not Rose has a fair point when she says, “Times have changed since you was plying baseball, Troy” (1126).  What does their exchange also reveal about their personalities and their marriage?