Pre viewing activities 1. A Crash Course Video Guide To Opera: With the expert help of Barry Goldsmith (affectionately called "Opera Man" by my literature students) I compiled a selection of video clips introducing the five major singing roles in an opera.
http://www.readingart.com/operaorientation.htm2. Programme Notes: A list of the singing roles and Anthony Davis' statements about the origins of his creation, the Amistad opera. Click here to view the posting.
3. Literary analysis of a key aria in the opera: "Skin of Clouds" (Act II, Scene 7)
I marked up a copy of text for this aria as if it were a poem by using the "literary superpower tools" of diction, symbolism, tone, and allusion.
4. Review background materials:
Poem: "Middle Passage" by Robert Hayden
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/middle-passage/
Anthony Davis stated that it was this poem by Hayden that first drew his attention to working on the Amistad opera.
During and after the performance
The Critic's Notebook: This is a piece of paper folded into quarters to create a mini notebook where one can scribble notes during and after the performance.
