Toronto Mississippi by Joan Macleod

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Recommended: Disability and the media

Literature as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary is “the body of written works produced in a particular language, country, or age”. Literature comes in different variations, languages, and from different countries. Canadian literature is literature made exclusively by an author of Canadian descent that understands what life is as a Canadian. The Canadian play I chose to read was Toronto Mississippi by Joan Macleod. The play has different themes that can be used as to teaching tools in Canadian English classes. The theme of being handicapped is the theme that the play revolves around. The talented playwright Joan Macleod has yet again made another successful play and should be used as teaching tool to teach students in Canadian English classes.
Joan Macleod was born on 1954 in Vancouver, British Colombia. After Mrs. Macleod graduated from The University of British Colombia she would attend a six week poetry workshop and eventually discovered the uniqueness of becoming a playwright after this workshop and in her own words said “got hooked” (The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama). She got her first big break in 1985 when the Tarragon Theatre in Toronto accepted her first play titled Jewel. She would then be on the Playwrights Unit for 6 years and during those 6 years she had premiered 3 new plays; one of these plays was Toronto Mississippi, which debuted at the Tarragon Theatre in 1987. She has won countless awards for her different plays, with her most recent award being the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre in 2011, when she won this award the jury who awarded her said “unique voice, her masterful storytelling, and the impact that her work has had among audiences in Canada and beyond” (Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia). Mrs. Macle...

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...d handicap can be taught but it could be a bit of a sore subject for students who have suffered these issues. Teachers may use films and videos to show what may happen when a family lacks either a mother or father figure. According to Lisa A. Miles a dysfunctional family is”is affected by mental illness, trauma from tragedy, or simply by being headed by individuals with very poor parenting skills.” (PsychCentral). A student who has dealt with this may not be comfortable with this. The same can be applied for any of the themes or topics discussed in the play. If a teacher wishes to teach of dealing with a handicapped person a teacher could make her students speak sentences backwards just like Jhana did in order to show how hard it may have been for Maddie to deal with. These topics if taught the right way by the right teacher can make for a very good play to teach.

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