Dec 23, 2009

Waiting for Lefty | Topics for Further Study

Compare Odets's working-class characters to the ways blue-collar workers are presented in three to four contemporary works of your own selection (sources can include movies, television, or books, as well as plays.) In your analysis, try to determine whether the differences you find are a function of: historical changes in the popular image of "the working class''; differences in the authors' intentions or beliefs; or differences of style and genre.

Research the 1934 New York taxi strike (the incident on which Waiting for Lefty is based). How closely does Odets follow the...