Response to course material #2

So this week has been a crazy one for me!  Luckily we've been reading in class so AP has been a nice break.
Reading The American Dream was incredibly fun.  I personally have a great time reading plays out loud (though I admit that I am horrible at acting) and it was difficult acting as Daddy.  I didn't know quite what I was supposed to be sounding like.  Most of the times it seemed like he should be sarcastic to Mommy but I wonder if he's supposed to be read in a different way.  But anyway, I found myself laughing at horrible things when reading this play.  I laughed partly because sometimes it came out of nowhere.  Like when they describe ripping their child limb from limb...that was just plain messed up.
In all honesty I only have a tiny tiny grasp on what all this play meant.  I get that it's got to do with what we call the "American Dream"  (which is a person in this play), but how it all fits together I can't get.  That's why I'm excited for this week when we (hopefully) get to dissect this play.

Overall I really love the historical aspect of this class.  Generally I like to tie the literature movements into musical ones.  This "Theater of the Absurd" seems similar to the music of Boulez and his followers around the 1950's.  His philosophy was that the romantic age, and the neoclassic composers failed to achieve a truly universal aspect to their music.  Boulez believed that the "human condition" is best described in music in the idea of perfection of form, and every detail in the right spot.  He said that without this it was meaningless.

Having read some Camus, loving it, but also being confused is another reason why it'll be nice to dissect The American Dream, so I can better understand the philosophy behind the writing.

Lets see, thesis writing is still difficult, but I'm learning a lot from the members in my group about form in writing and the idea of "meaning", which I'm sure will pervade all further responses of course materiel to come.  But, though I'm struggling with that, the reading aspect of this class is very fun!