1. Grover’s Corners Sentinel
Your copy of the Grover’s Corners Sentinel newspaper is your method of note taking during the play. Familiarize yourself with the varying features of the paper.
Who’s Who? A Guide to the Grover’s Corners Locals **
Track characterization and development of the main characters.
Stage Manager, George Gibbs, Emily Webb, Gibbs Family (Dr. Gibbs, Mrs. Gibbs, Rebecca), and Webb Family (Mr. Webb, Mrs. Webb, Wally)
What’s the Big Idea? Themes in Our Town
I Spy: Motifs in Our Town
“Blessed Be the Tie That Binds” (hymn)
MetaDrama: A Play Within a Play **
Where do we see acknowledgement that this is a play and not real life?
Keep track of specific examples (include page numbers for easy reference!)
Scene It: Short Recaps of Every Act **
Connect the Dots
Letter to the Editor
** = elements you are responsible for without direct instruction

2. Theme: There is beauty in the ordinary.
Recap of Act 1
Theme: Life is so small in the grand scheme of things. It is so insignificant, yet nothing is more extraordinary.
Theme: There is beauty in the ordinary.
Theme: We should appreciate the small moments in life. Don’t overlook what is right in front of you.
Dr. Gibbs rebuking his son, George, for not chopping wood for his mother
Mrs. Soames, Mrs. Webb, and Mrs. Gibbs gossiping about the town choir director and drunk, Simon Stimson
Dr. Gibbs and Mrs. Gibbs talking about Simon and taking a vacation
George and Rebecca talking about the moon and stars
Mr. Webb and Constable Warren run into the town drunk, Mr. Soames
Emily and Mr. Webb saying goodnight
Rebecca and George talking about Jane Crofut’s letter

3. Themes from Act 2
Love isn’t always about grand gestures. Love is about the little moments and the sharing of life together.
Love requires risk.

4. Relationships (the “ties”)
Motifs
Motif
Abstract Idea
Theme
Howie Newsome (the milkman) and the Crowell boys (newspaper delivery)
Routines
There is a sense of comfort that comes with routine.
“Blessed Be the Tie that Binds”
Relationships (the “ties”)
Act 1 – Community
Act 2 – Romantic
Act 3 – Eternal
When you get down to it, life is really about relationships.
There is a sanctity and holiness to relationships.
Natural cycles (birth to death, day to night)
Time
There is a natural progression to life that can’t be stopped.
Life is ephemeral (fleeting).
Time passes quickly, so seize the day!

5. "Blessed Be the Tie That Binds“
Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love; The fellowship of kindred minds Is like to that above.
Before our Father's throne We pour our ardent prayers; Our fears, our hopes, our alms, are one, Our comforts and our cares.
We share our mutual woes, Our mutual burdens bear, And often for each other flows The sympathizing tear
When here our pathways part, We suffer bitter pain; Yet, one in Christ and one in heart, We hope to meet again.
This glorious hope revives Our courage by the way, While each in expectation lives And longs to see the day.
From sorrow, toil, and pain, And sin we shall be free And perfect love and friendship reign Through all eternity.
Warm Up: Monday, Feb. 26
Read over the lyrics of “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds.’’ This hymn appears throughout all three acts of Our Town.
For your warm up, annotate (take notes on) the song lyrics in your newspaper notes by connecting events that happen throughout the three acts to the lyrics.
I would use three different colors to annotate for the three acts!
Act I – Color 1
Act II – Color 2
Act III – Color 3
**Make two notes about each act!
Act I: Mrs. Webb and Mrs. Gibbs discuss concerns regarding their husbands.

6. Connect the Dots
Write out 4 quotes, events, characters, or themes in the play that stood out to you, one for each of the bullets. (At least one needs to be a quote.)
How can you connect those bullets together? Draw a line connecting your bullets and write on the line how those two ideas are linked. Try to make as many connections as possible between your dots.
You need to make at least 4 connections.

7. “Come help me string these beans for winter.” (pg. 30)
The role of the Stage Manager
The Soda Shop Scene
“Choose an unimportant day. It will be important enough.” (pg. 100)
While stringing beans with her mother is a seemingly ordinary and mundane chore, Emily is also talking with her mom about her insecurities (Am I pretty, Mama?). This conversation is an important one because it helps to build her confidence and will ultimately influence how she sees herself.
This is just an example of one connection that can be made between the dots.

8. Newspaper Who’s Who Box Metadrama Box Recaps (summaries of each act)
Descriptions of George and Emily through all three acts
Basic characterization for the other characters (Stage Manager, Gibbs family, Webb family)
Metadrama Box
Minimum four examples of metadrama for each act (12 total)
Recaps (summaries of each act)
Boxes completed in class: Themes, Motifs, “Blessed Be the Ties that Bind,” Connect the Dots, and Letter to the Editor

9. Letter to the Editor
Choose one of the prompts below for your “Letter to the Editor” box. A complete response is at least 8 sentences.
Write a review of Our Town for the Gazette. What did you think of the play? What did you like? What did you not like? What could be improved? Would you recommend the play to others?
Describe Atascocita in the same tone that the Stage Manager uses when describing Grover’s Corners at the beginning of Act 1.
Create your own “goodbye list” like Emily does at the end of Act 3. After listing out the things you would miss, give an explanation of why these items mean so much to you.
Construct your own obituary. Include the basic facts about your life thus far, but also tell us how you want to be remembered.
If you were Emily, what ordinary day would you want to revisit? Describe that day to me.