Monologue Writing Made Easy

Created by Matthew Banaszynski

Join Matt Banaszynski in this dynamic unit designed to introduce students to the process of starting, drafting, polishing, and performing a self-created, stand-alone monologue.

This unit introduces students to writing their own stand-alone monologues. Students will learn the steps involved in going from a simple idea to a written piece to performing that piece. They will also provide feedback to others and give themselves a self-assessment.

This unit has been prepared for a middle school drama class but could be adapted for high school. It was designed as a way to get non-theatre students more involved in theatre.

Unit Overview
The unit overview provides the objectives for the unit, as well as a list of lessons and materials.
1: Introduction to Monologue Writing
Students will start the process of writing a monologue by storytelling. They will tell a story based only on what they observe in a picture.
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2: The Story Mountain Framework
Students will understand the parts of a story and how it relates to a monologue through the story mountain framework.
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3: Analyzing Monologues
Students will plot out the steps of the story mountain by using existing monologues.
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4: Monologue Writing
Students will start writing their own monologue, using a pre-selected phrase as a starting point.
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5: Drafting a Monologue
Using their rough drafts from the starter prompts, students will work in pairs to edit their drafts to make cleaner stories. Students will also map out their drafts on a Story Mountain diagram to make sure that they follow the proper format.
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6: More Minds Are Better Than One
Students will work in groups to turn their previous drafts into completed monologues.
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7: Performing a Monologue
Students will perform their monologues in front of the class and reflect on the process.
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Standards Addressed

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