Unit One - Introduction to Drama
Module 1: Basic Skills
Lesson 2- Impulse

Introduction:
The purpose of the lesson is to examine the role of impulse in acting. By the end of the lesson, actors should be able to make a line "feel real".

Activities:
Read the handout on Emotional Response and do the journals.

Following the journal time, divide into partners. Each person will try three lines: "I hate you", "I love you", and "I feel sad". The first step is recalling the emotion, the second step is feeling the emotion out of the context it happened in. The final step is finding the impulse to say the line because of the emotion. It is important that actors refrain from saying the line until they feel the emotional impulse to do so. Each line will need to be said multiple times before the impulse and magnification of the emotion are real for the audience. The job of the partner is to keep saying "again, please" until the line is said in a manner that is impacts emotionally. When the partnership has succeeded in this process with all three lines, they switch jobs.

Evaluation:
You will watch your partner for real emotional feeling on each line, and provide feedback. Then you will switch jobs, and he or she will watch you.

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