Name:
Date:
Period:
English III: Realism and Naturalism
Our Town: Responses to Emily’s “Good-bye, world!” Monologue
Before returning to her grave on the hill in Act III, Emily emotes,
“I can’t. I can’t go on. It goes so fast. We don’t have time to look at one
another. I didn’t realize. So all that was going on and we never noticed.
Take me back—up the hill—to my grave. But first: Wait! One more look.
Good-bye , Good-bye world. Good-bye, Grover’s Corners....Mama and
Papa. Good-bye to clocks ticking....and Mama’s sunflowers. And food and
coffee. And new ironed dresses and hot baths....and sleeping and waking
up. Oh, earth, you are too wonderful for anybody to realize you. Do any human beings ever realize life
while they live it—every, every minute?”
Emily’s impassioned speech is a response to her realization that she had not been aware of the wonder of
life as she lived it. “I didn’t realize…all that was going on and we never noticed?”
I.
Now, it is your turn to write a monologue…well, actually two…reacting to Emily’s “Take me
back to my grave” speech. In your first monologue, you should follow Wilder’s style and
Emily’s pattern and list several things that you would miss about the earth. This soliloquy
should praise what you would miss most about life. For example:
“Good-bye Thibodaux…Mom and Dad. Good-bye warm Summer breezes and soft lips awaiting a
kiss. New blue jeans and flickering candles. Good-bye, my car…XM radio and all my favorite
tunes. Good-bye bright blue interior and bucket seats. And the turbo engines. And the starting up
every morning and the shutting off at night. Oh earth, you’re too wonderful for anyone to realize
you.”
II. In the second version of your monologue, you will incorporate irony. Again, follow Wilder’s
style and Emily’s pattern, but list several things that humans would not miss about the earth.
For example:
“Good-bye, world hunger, violence, hate, racism. Good-bye, war, nuclear arms, police brutality.
Good-bye to killers and robbers…” etc.
Or, on a less serious note…
“Good-bye long lines at the crowed supermarket. Good-bye soggy Cheerios, and people who
don’t brush their teeth. Good-bye to homework and in-school suspension. And getting dressed up
and going to dances and worrying about dates. Good-bye accidents caused by icy roads. Goodbye world! Good-bye to numb feet in the winter. Good-bye to paper cuts and broken bones. It’s
all gone now! See ya, responsibility and pressure! Ha, Ha! What a world! Good-bye spiders,
snakes, cold showers, and rebellious siblings. Good-bye mosquito bites, bad weather, and all of
the lectures my parents gave me.
Write at least half page for each and be ready to share!
Name:
Character
Date:
A
Thoughts, feelings,
attitudes, personality
and context of the
speaker, reflects the
character chosen with
deep insight and vivid
detail.
Voice
Communicates in the
voice of the speaker
through the entire
monologue. There is no
question as to who is
speaking.
Diction
Control of language
used to communicate
ideas is clear, tight,
very complex and
figurative.
The structure of the
monologue is constant
throughout the text and
is used effectively.
Structure
Creates
Meaning from
Text
Grammar and
Spelling
The work reflects, with
deep insight, the
chapter(s) including the
theme, situations and
ideas of the text.
Sentence structure,
spelling and grammar
are impeccable.
B
Thoughts, feelings,
attitudes, personality
and context of the
speaker, reflects the
character chosen with
purposeful insight and
useful detail.
Period:
C
D/F
Thoughts, feelings,
Thoughts, feelings,
attitudes, personality
attitudes, personality
and context of the
and context of the
speaker, reflects the
speaker, doesn’t reflect
character chosen with the character chosen.
good insight and good Work is confusing and
detail. Need to use these details did not help
characteristics better to express the goal of this
convey ideas.
exercise.
Communicates in the Communicates in the Has difficulty
voice of the speaker
voice of the speaker
communicating in the
through the most of the through the most of the voice of the speaker
monologue. There are a monologue. There are a throughout the
couple of instances
several instances where monologue. The reader
where the reader
the reader questions
constantly questions
questions who is
who is speaking.
who is speaking.
speaking.
Control of language
Control of language
Control of language
used to communicate used to communicate used to communicate
ideas is clear, well
ideas is clear, but
ideas is not controlled
chosen, complex and
sometimes is over
and leads to difficulty
figurative.
expressed.
understanding the work.
The structure of the
The structure of the
The structure of the
monologue is constant monologue is constant monologue is not
throughout the text, but throughout the text, but constant throughout the
needs to be more
is weak.
text.
affective in some parts.
The work reflects the The work reflects, most The work reflects, with
chapter(s) including the of, the chapter(s)
difficulty, the chapter(s)
theme, situations and including the theme,
including the theme,
ideas of the text.
situations and ideas of situations and ideas of
the text.
the text.
Some errors in; either Errors in either;
Many errors in either;
sentence structure,
sentence structure,
sentence structure,
spelling or grammar.
spelling or grammar.
spelling or grammar.
Errors do not affect the Errors affect the reader. Errors affect the
reader.
understanding of the
text.