return to assignments page                      Six Question Assignment
                                                                      50 points possible

You will do the work of the actor playing Nora in A Doll’s House.  Answer Uta Hagen’s six questions.  Be specific.

I. Who am I? (Answer in first person – “I am . . . “) (20 points)

A. Write a short paragraph about Nora’s biographical information.  How old is she?  How many brothers and sisters does she have?  What was her relationship with her family like?  Some of these questions will have to be inferred from the text since it doesn’t tell us.

B. What kind of person is Nora?  This is where you need to spend most of your time.  How does Nora see herself?  For example, is she temperamental or easygoing?  Is she flamboyant or does she tend to stay in the background?
What kind of mother is she?
What things are important to her?
How does she believe others see her?

II. Where am I? (5 points)

  1. What is her location specifically?  If she’s in a house, whose house is it?  Which room?
  2. What is the location like?  Is it friendly or unfriendly?  Is it her territory or someone else’s?  Is it a pleasant place for her or unpleasant?
  3. How does the location affect Nora in the scene?

III. What time is it? (5 points)

  1. What time of day is it?  What time of year is it?  Be specific.
  2. How does the time of day affect Nora in the scene?

IV. What do I want? (10 points)

  1. What does Nora want to have happen by the end of the play?  This should be a one sentence answer.
  2. What does Nora need to do to or get from Mrs. Linde in this moment?  This should be a one sentence answer that is a verb.  This is Nora’s objective in that moment.

V. What’s in my way? (5 points)

A. What obstacles does Nora see in the situation?

B. What obstacles does Nora see in Mrs. Linde’s perception of her (Nora)?

C. What personal shortcomings would Nora see as obstacles?

D. Is Mrs. Linde doing anything that gets in Nora’s way?  For example, is Mrs. Linde arguing against Nora?  Does she not believe Nora?

VI. What will I do to get what I want?  This pertains only to the brief scene segment.  State in one sentence the first action that Nora will take in the segment.  Remember, she doesn’t know how the scene will turn out.  She expects her first choice to work, regardless of whether she’s successful. (5 points)