On Elephants and Cranes: A Senior Thesis

As part of the Honors Program at Belmont University, every student designs and completes a Senior Thesis. For my thesis, I created three sets of high school Theatre curricula that integrate lessons and activities inspired by a Production Plan designed for "Elephant's Graveyard".

Click Image to Access Information on the Erwin Elephant Revival

In the Honors Program at Belmont University, student theses may be of the traditionally written format, a leadership capstone, or a creative project. Students have complete freedom with the topic as long as it is academically rigorous and encompassing of the student's gained skills. Projects are approved by the Honors Academic Council at the end of the student's Junior year.

My thesis is comprised of three sets of high school curricula and a production plan.

Inspiration

Many people have asked me why I - as an English major - wrote curricula and not a series of short stories, the beginning to a novel, a critical masterpiece, or even my own play. My answer is simple: I do not write stories with words. I create narratives through visuals.

Writing curricula and an accompanying production plan allowed me to combine the skills I have acquired from all three areas of my degree: English, Theatre, and Education. The Theatre component is fairly obvious as the curricula's content area is Theatre. Textual analysis and critical perspective are two functions of any actor or director that are often overlooked by the public: one must have a clear picture of plot and character if a production is going to be successful. And lastly, the educational aspect of this endeavor came in the writing of curricula but also in the production plan as I hypothetically am lead a group towards a common goal, creating structure and schedule, and adapting to the needs of individuals and situations as any teacher/director/producer is expected to do.

The project was difficult and required hours and hours of work in terms of research, writing, and revising. When going through the approval process with the Honors Council, their critique was a concern that the project was too large and that it would be difficult for me to balance it with all of my remaining degree requirements.

I had created a 300 page thesis of which I am quite proud. So proud, in fact, that I had requested my parents to submit my thesis for me in the event that I died before final review.

However, challenge is not something that should be feared, nor should it stop you from working towards your goals. After many a sleepless night and tabs and tabs of circus research, I had created a 300 page thesis of which I am quite proud. So proud, in fact, that I had requested my parents to submit my thesis for me in the event that I died before final review. Luckily that didn't happen.

The Production

The play I selected fro my production plan is George Brant's masterpiece, "Elephant's Graveyard."

"Elephant's Graveyard" is a monologue-driven play that is inspired by the true story of Mary the circus elephant who was hung in Erwin, TN on September 13th, 1916 after killing an abusive trainer.

Mary's controversial execution has impacted generations as the city of Erwin honors her memory today with The Erwin Elephant Revival, a fundraiser dedicated to bettering the lives of rehabilitating elephants.

In my Production Plan, I hope to explore the psychology behind mob mindset, hasty decision making, and animal cruelty through this production. I am excited to one day discover ways to discuss difficult topics through performance with my students. I expect my greatest challenge to be how to create balance between necessary discomfort and entertainment.

The Curricula

I have created three sets of curricula for high school theatre classes: Intermediate Acting, Advanced Acting, and Technical Theatre. For each course, I created a syllabus and class contract, an detailed outline of each unit as they fall on the school calendar, and a sample lesson plan from each unit with any needed materials. Each course includes lessons relating to the (theoretical) production of "Elephant's Graveyard". I used Metro Nashville Public School's 2019-2020 calendar and wrote the lessons as if on a block schedule.

Now What?

What I love so much about this thesis project is that I am starting my teaching career with three sets of curricula already under my belt. With minor adjustments to class schedules, the units and lessons I have created are just waiting to be taught. Likewise, my Production Plan of "Elephant's Graveyard" is simply waiting for a cast and a crew.

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Click here to view a Google Drive file of my complete senior thesis.