THE WORKSHOPS:
The two-day workshops are led by distinguished
scholars in the field of American literature: James
Miller, Director of Africana Studies and Professor
of English and American Studies, George Washington
University and Lucinda MacKethan, Professor of English,
North Carolina State University. They are joined
in presenting the Scribbling Women multi-media
series to groups of high school and middle school
teachers by Scribbling Women Executive Producer,
Valerie Henderson, and some of the playwrights who
dramatize the short stories.
The first two workshops were held
in the Greenwich Public Schools, Connecticut and
the Boston Public Schools, Massachusetts. A different
Scribbling Women play is featured at each
workshop and teachers are taken through a series
of exercises tailored to the issues raised in the
story and its dramatization. Teachers are offered
sample lesson plans and discussions take place examining
different ways of introducing women's literature
into the classroom and and how radio drama can aid
in the teaching process. On the second day of the
workshop the writer of the featured play makes a
presentation and answers questions about the decisions
and choices she made in dramatizing the short story.
At the Greenwich Public School workshop,
playwright Donna DiNovelli, talked to the group
about her dramatization of Susan Glaspell's A
Jury of Her Peers. An energetic discussion ensued
looking at the potential uses of radio drama in
the classroom. As an example of a proposed classroom
exercise, teachers were then asked to take part
in a "mock trial", based on Glaspell's story. The
accused woman, Minnie Wright, was questioned about
the murder of her husband, witnesses were called,
and prosecution and defense attorneys presented
their cases. After an intense debate, the rule of
the majority prevailed, and Minnie was set free.
At the Boston Public Schools, the
team was joined by playwright Eliza Anderson for
a close look at the story Ms. Anderson dramatized
for the Scribbling Women series, Louisa
by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman. Teachers discussed the
play's characters as they might be seen through
the eyes of students. Exercises included role-playing
by teachers in an open marriage counseling session
in which the play's three principal marriages were
evaluated by a panel of "experts".
At both school systems teachers were
divided into groups, assigned a short story, and
asked to come up with their own plans for adapting
text to radio drama. These proposals were presented
on the second day of the workshops and were evaluated
by the Scribbling Women team who provided
advice on structure, sound effects and other literary
and technical issues.
The third Scribbling Women
workshop was presented on April 30/May 1 1999 at
North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North
Carolina. 
Professors
MacKethan and Miller led the workshop assisted by
Valerie Henderson and playwright, Eliza Anderson.
Seventeen teachers from four North Carolina schools
attended: Garner Senior High School, Westlake Middle
School, Broughton High School and Cary Academy.
The dramatizations listened to and
discussed were Mary E. Wilkins Freeman's, Louisa
and The Bones of Louella Brown by Ann Petry.
On the second day teachers were divided into groups
and asked to devize a treatment for the dramatization
of the short story, Sanctuary, by Nella Larsen.
Playwright Eliza Anderson was at hand to give advice
on the best approach to this difficult task. However,
when the moment came for the panel to decide on
the winning dramatization, it was Garner Senior
High School's Brenda W. Greene whose remarkable
singing voice tipped the scales and gave her group's
dramatization the added creative effect that allowed
them to cruise to victory!
All of these activities and many other
suggested exercises for teachers and students are
described on this website and in the Scribbling
Women Multi-Media
Education Kit.
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