• It is very important that you have completed your assigned readings on gender, conformity, and persuasion BEFORE going to the rehearsal so you understand what to look for.
• Summary & major characters in Oklahoma!:
• A couple of young cowboys (Curly and Will) try to win the hearts of their sweethearts (Laurey and Ado Annie) despite the interference of a ranch hand (Jud) and a roaming peddler (Ali Hakim).  Takes place in the Oklahoma territory at the turn of the 20th century; first produced in 1943 (during WWII) and was an enormous hit in part because of its clear reminder of the American Dream.
• Take a notebook and pen/pencil with you to the rehearsal to take notes.   The best way to observe the rehearsal (your first exposure to the material) is to watch and enjoy - take some notes on things you'll want to remember later, but don't write frantically.  Most of your thinking will be done later, either by yourself or in discussion with others.
• Below are some guiding questions to help direct your attention during the play.  Focus on a small subset of these (perhaps 2 or 3), or come up with some of your own:
• what does it mean to be a man? (which qualities are valued? which not?)  Which men are shown as the ideals; for the men who are not the ideals, why aren't they?
• same for women - which qualities are valued, which are not, and in what characters?  Who do the authors want us to believe are the "best" women?  How do you know?
• what are the proper roles for men and women to play in courtship (e.g., who pursues whom and how)?
• sexuality is shown in both men and women - how? what differences do you see?
• what are the different persuasion strategies used by men and by women?  who is more easily persuaded?  Is one gender (or even a particular character) better at persuading?
• what traditional (or stereotypical) roles or norms for each gender do you see?  What roles or actions are NOT stereotypical (surprising given the time period)?
• in what ways would the characters themselves believe that men and women are different?  In what ways do you agree? Disagree?
• Who is responsible in the musical for resolving any gender differences or conflicts?  Do you agree with the proposed solutions?
• what differences and similarities do you see between the musical's portrayal of men and women and their relationships and today's norms for men and women?  In what ways do we have it better today?  In what ways do you think the old ways were better for men? for women?
• Which characters have high status within the portrayed community?  Low status?  How do you know?  Related to this, who are we as an audience supposed to like and not like?  How are we being persuaded?

• Describe your observations about gender norms, gender roles, and other issues related to gender that you observed, based on the guiding questions shown above. Identify the social psych phenomena that you observed (don't assume that I'll be able to figure out that you're trying to get at "norms for persuading women to marry.")  Make sure that you include clear examples from the musical and that you clearly relate the examples back to your observations about the social psych phenomena.
• For example: "The women characters seemed more likely than the men to conform to others' wishes, even if they didn't personally agree (compliance). For example, Laurey did... but later told Aunt Eller...  Taken together, this suggests compliance - that even though she did what Jud wanted, she didn't personally agree with...."
• Briefly consider whether any of the gender relationships you see in the musical are normative (i.e., a good way to structure relationships) or in what ways they are fallen/not normative (see the Final Paper requirements for more on this).
• If you'd like, comment on anything you noticed about the relationships between the actors themselves (beyond the characters they are portraying) - did men and women seem more (less) comfortable in their roles?  Why do you think that is?
• List 3-5 questions (NOT yes-no kinds of questions, but more along the lines of "what do you think about..." or "How would you describe ...") that you'd like to ask the director or cast regarding gender or related issues.

NOTE: because of the nature of this assignment as the basis for class discussion with the cast and director, (see below), the observations draft will not be accepted late.

Watch the Today for ticket sales (early October) and buy your ticket early from the box office in the SUB (x6430; usually open after 1pm; cost is $2.00 for student in Social Psych (the Psych Department will subsidize $2.00 of your $4.00 student ticket). The shows on Wednesdays and Thursdays are probably easiest to get tickets for.  The best seats in the house are in the center, about 4-5 rows back.

When you go to see Oklahoma!, I encourage you to have fun and enjoy the show.  You might want to take a few notes during the show (though it will be pretty dark) or during the intermission to help remind you of things you'll want to mention in your paper. I strongly recommend going with some friends (other social psych students or friends who like to analyze movies and such) and go out for coffee afterwards to discuss the show.  Discussions are a great way for you to test your opinions and hear what others' thought.

In general, the goal of seeing the polished show is to deepen your understanding of the complexity of gender norms and roles once you already know the basic plot and characters. Have you ever noticed how much more you see in movies when you see them again?  The same thing will happen here. Even if you hate musicals or seeing the same thing more than once, concentrate and see what you can learn. Especially look for more examples (and counter-examples - remember the confirmation bias!) for the questions you focused on in your draft.

Your 7-10 page, double-spaced, typed paper should include the following:

• an enriched discussion of the topics addressed in your draft.  Give more examples, deeper insights, etc. based on your discussion with cast members (and friends) and your second viewing of the show.
• a rich reflection on the overall normativity of the relationships in the play.  That is, in what ways are these relationships (or aspects of them) harmful to the people involved?  In what way does the community depicted in the musical encourage these harmful aspects?  In what ways do we ourselves (and you yourself) encourage (subtly or not) harmful aspects of relationships?  Who is responsible for changing these norms and how do you think this could be done in your own life?
• attach an original program from the musical
• attach your observations draft and my feedback

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