Monologue Unit
By Lauren Wilkins
Unit Objective: Students will demonstrate their ability to memorize and improve their
character development skills by performing a monologue in front of the class.
Class Level: Beginning High School Drama Class
Prior Experience: The class has already completed voice and diction and motion units where
they have learned the correct techniques in speaking, projection, and movement. They have
also already picked out monologues to work on.
2014 National Core Arts Theatre Standards: Creating 1.1.I; Performing 4-6.1.I; Responding 9.1.I
1994 National Standards:
Content Standard One: Script writing by improvising, writing, and refining scripts based on
personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history.
Content Standard Two: Acting by developing, communicating, and sustaining characters in
improvisations and informal or formal productions.
Content Standard Six: Comparing and integrating art forms by analyzing traditional theatre,
dance, music, and visual arts, and new art forms.
Main Concepts:
Imagination
Collaboration
Lesson One: What is a Monologue?
Educational Objective: Students will demonstrate their ability to perform independently by
slating their monologue information in front of the class.
Lesson Two: Memorization
Educational Objective: Students will demonstrate their ability to memorize lengthy
monologues by completing memorization exercises and a memorization quiz.
Lesson Three: Tactics
Educational Objective: Students will demonstrate their ability to find different tactics for their
characters by making a list of tactics they could use in their own monologues.
Lesson Four: Monologues to Music
Educational Objective: Students will demonstrate their ability to adjust the emotions of their
characters by performing their monologues to music.
Lesson Five: Who are you talking to?
Educational Objective: Students will demonstrate their ability to relate to an unseen character
by performing to partners at the same time.
Lesson Six: Final Performances
Educational Objective: Students will demonstrate their applied learning and monologue
practice by performing their full monologue alone in front of the class.
Lesson One: What is a Monologue?
Educational Objective:
Students will demonstrate their ability to perform independently by slating their
monologue information in front of the class.
Previous Knowledge:
The students are supposed to have already picked a monologue.
Materials Needed:
 Computer and projection system
 Access to YouTube clips:
o Much Ado About Nothing Part 5;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AlFkbElh44
o Sneaky Little Hobbitses- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_aziIIp8U8
o Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two- Neville’s Speech Scene;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8C_3OA8eso
o Tangled Scenes Part 2; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUoTkPr0igI
 Paper and pencil to write story on
 Copies of the Tangled monologues
Hook:
Invite students to sit in a circle facing each other. Join them in this circle. Tell them
you’re going to be coming up with a story, but we will add one word at a time as we go from
person to person around the circle. Ask them to please start with the writing prompt which is: a
traveler.Write down the story as it is created. When it is complete, ask the students to sit down
in their normal seats. Stand in front of them and slate (Hello, my name is... Etc) and then act out
the story as a monologue for them.
Teaching Presentation:
 What would you call that thing I just did there? Does that kind of performance have a
name? What does a monologue look like? Can someone define that for me? Let’s watch
one!
 Project the Much Ado About Nothing clip on the board starting at 4:41. At 5:15 turn
down the volume, but let the video clip run. Ask, does anyone know what is going on
here? Shakespeare has long monologues to express what certain characters are feeling.
It would be awkward to start talking about your deepest feelings in real life. Sometimes
these types of monologues can get boring, right? Why? What makes a scene
interesting? Interacting with someone?
 Start the Sneaky Little Hobbitses clip. Play it until 1:13 then turn down the volume. Start
the discussion but let them observe the role switches between Gollum and Sméagol in
the background. The scene is more interesting than the first, but why? He’s still talking
to himself. Is this a monologue? Is he one character or two? Yes, it is a great monologue.
Because he has someone he is talking to. It might be himself, but we need the reactions
of others so we’re not just ranting to ourselves and the audience.
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Play the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two at 1:50. End at 3:35. This is one
of the best speeches in this movie. Speeches can be monologues too. When he starts to
speak, he makes eye contact with Voldemort. That is important. You might think you’re
just monologueing, but you need to see the person or people you are talking to. There is
passion behind his speech. We pick good monologues because they have passion- both
comedic and dramatic. Was this a monologue? Now, onto one more.
Begin the Tangled Scenes at 7:15. Was this a monologue? Could it be? Why or why not?
We said that you needed to interact with people, but we also said a monologue was for
one person. Yes, it can be a monologue. It is often hard to find long, usable sections for
monologues, so we cut characters! Does that make sense? Sometimes it still doesn’t
flow nicely so you have to cut more out.
Pass out the Tangled monologues. Have each student cut out a few words to make it
flow nicely. Ask them to gather in pairs and compare their monologue scripts by
performing them for each other. Encourage them to make it their own. Let them know
that if they need to change the feeling or emotion behind the words, they are allowed
to.
Do you know how to start a monologue? Has anyone heard of slating before? I did it at
the beginning of our story! You introduce yourself and the basic information about
yourself. Slate again for them and give them five minutes to figure it out for themselves.
Invite them up to slate one at a time.
Before they leave, sign off on their monologue choices for clean language and content,
then assign them to memorize half of their monologue by next class.
Tangled Monologues
Mother Gothel:
Rapunzel? Rapunzel, what’s going on up there? Are you alright? Please speak up
Rapunzel, you know how I hate the mumbling! Oh, Rapunzel, do you even hear youself? Why
would you even ask such a ridiculous question? Everything I did was to protect you. RapunzelRapunzel! Where will you go? He won’t be there for you! That criminal is to be hanged for his
crimes. Now, now, it’s alright, listen to me. All of this is as it should be. You want me to be the
bad guy? Fine. Now I’m the bad guy.
Rapunzel:
I am the lost princess. I am the lost princess, aren’t I? Did I mumble, mother? Or should
I even call you that? It was you! It was all you! I have spent my entire life hiding from people
who would use me for my power, when I should have been hiding from you! What did you do
to him? No… No! You were wrong about the world! And you were wrong about me! And I will
never let you use my hair again!
Monologue Unit
Lesson Two: Memorization
Educational Objective:
Students will demonstrate their ability to memorize lengthy monologues by completing
memorization exercises and a memorization quiz.
Materials:
Class candy stash
Square blank sheet of paper for each student
Cootie Catcher Template
Quiz for each student
Any type of tape for the game
Hook:
Welcome class. Ask, “Who can tell me what slating is?” Throw candy to the first person to answer
correctly. Feed off of students’ answers to check for understanding. Continue tossing candy to each
student who answers correctly and helps along the class discussion. “So, if it performed before a
monologue, what is a monologue?” “Why are monologues important?”… etc.
Teaching Presentation:
 Invite students to get into pairs. Do not tell them what you are making, but follow the cootie
catcher template and teach the students to make cootie catchers. Slowly teach each fold in the
process step by step, making sure everyone is following along. Tell the students to write one of
each of these four activities on each of the inside tabs: “perform the first three sentences in
your monologue as fast as possible,” “perform the last three sentences in your monologue as
slow as possible,” “recite your full monologue with a different accent,” and “pretend your
monologue is a poem- recite it with a cadence or rhythm.” Invite the older partner to pick a
random number and begin working on their monologues by following the cootie catcher
promptings.
 Walk around and assist students with their monologue work. Provide individual assistance . You
should know class well enough by this point to take the students’ needs into consideration and
help them as best as you can.
 Have the students switch partners and begin working on straight memorization. One student
will work on remembering and reciting their monologue while the other student checks it word
for word. They will keep switching back and forth and improving their memorization. Go around
to each pair and encourage the partner who is checking the wording to cheer for every correct
word. Join along with them. Physically cheer (clap, whoop, exclaim, etc.) for your students and
their improvement.
 Ask class to cheer at once for everyone’s progress today. Gather together again and tell them
that you can memorize better when you divide the monologue into topics or create a rhythm
when you speak. Ask for ideas on how the students memorize and rehearse things. Have the
class put away their materials.
 Pass out the quiz. When students finish, have them work on memorization alone until everyone
is finished and you can gather up all of the assessments.
 Game time! Have students assist you in making a pathway of tape on the carpeting or floor.
Think gameboard around the perimeter of the room. Tape strips should be placed about a foot
from each other around the room. Ask who thinks they know their monologue best from the
beginning. Ask that student to recite his or her monologue from the beginning and take a step
onto the tape with each correct word. Begin by checking that student’s progress yourself. Then
get three to five players going at once, with student’s checking their reading. When a student
gets one word wrong, they stay on that place on the board until someone passes them. Then
they must start over and try to recite their monologue with more exactness. Give candy to the
top three winners of the game.
Name: __________________
Memorization Quiz
1. What is slating? How do you use it? (2 points)
2. Name two ways we discussed that could help improve your memorization. (2 points)
3. In the space below, write down your monologue, word for word. (6 points)
Key:
1. Introducing yourself and your monologue at the beginning of the monologue
2. Music, poems, memorizing little bits at a time and putting them together
3. Varies
Monologue Unit
Lesson Three: Tactics
Educational Objective:
Students will demonstrate their ability to find different tactics for their characters by
making a list of tactics they could use in their own monologues.
Materials Needed:
Computer and projector with speakers
Access to Youtube clip: The Lion King – Rafiki [Eng];
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bj0CiJLB1c&feature=related
Double sided tactics list: http://texasartsproject.com/wpcontent/uploads/2012/03/TacticList21.pdf
Hook:
Students will enter the classroom as a clip of the Lion King is playing. We will watch this
clip for about five minutes. When it is over, ask the class, “What was Rafiki trying to do?” Guide
their answers toward teaching Simba or getting Simba to go back. “How did he do it?” Accept
their more physical answers like hitting him or showing him his dad in the water, etc. We will
slowly expand and go deeper with the idea of tactics, so these answers are a great beginning.
Teaching Presentation:
 Explain what objectives and tactics are. The objective for your monologue is the thing
that your character wants the most and is trying to get. He or she achieves this through
tactics.
 In (play we’ve already covered as a class), what does the main character want? What is
his objective? How does he get it? What tactics did he use to accomplish what he
wanted?
 Pass out tactics list. “See how different all of these are?” Most tactics aren’t physical
actions. They can be, but you want to use a wide range of tactics to get your objective.
 Invite everyone to get up and on their feet. Get with a partner. You want something
from this partner. Don’t tell me what it is. Don’t tell them what it is. Just think about it.
What do you want from your partner? Now I’m going to call out a few tactics from this
list. Be bold! Just go for it! As strange as each tactic sounds, use that tactic to get what
you want from your partner! Yell out random tactics. Go around and give feedback and
assistance where people need it.
 Ask for understanding. Do you understand now what objectives and tactics are? Does
anyone still have any questions? Have everyone get back in their seats.
 Now we are going to work on your own monologues. Think about your character. What
is his or her objective? Now, we are going to have each of you come up to the front of
the class and begin performing your monologue. I might stop you or have you start over,
so don’t worry if you don’t perform the whole thing. Keep your objective in mind. I will
call out random tactics. You must use these to try to get what you want. The rest of the
class will also be giving tactics. If you want to give a tactic, please raise your hand. Some
of these might be difficult! This is just to make you think about the different ways your
character could work with others. Some tactics will not work at all. Don’t worry about it!
This is a learning experience!
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o Bewitch, lecture, frighten, free, evade, prod, reprimand, quash, remedy, etc.
Use the tactic list to help push each student along. Use the students’ tactics as well!
Look for those students that aren’t very engaged. Ask them personally if they would like
to contribute. If a student is too shy or doesn’t really understand, help them along! Give
them a tactic to call out and let them go! Get everyone involved and let everyone get up
and present their monologues for the class.
When finished, have them sit down and start to write out a list of tactics that their
characters would use. Assign them to rehearse these tactics tonight as homework for at
least twenty minutes. We will do a little check on this tomorrow.
Close the class period by asking the students what objectives and tactics are. Make sure
they truly understand. How can using different tactics be helpful with your characters?
Why is this important? When you feel like they understand very well, dismiss them!
Monologue Unit
Lesson Four: Monologues to Music
Educational Objective:
Students will demonstrate their ability to adjust the emotions of their characters by
performing their monologues to music.
Materials Needed:
 Song list
o Song List
o Nessum Dorma- Paul Potts
o Do You Love Me- The Contours
o Rafiki Mourns- The Lion King (Original Broadway Cast Recording)
o Spectrum Song- Sherman/Sherman
o September- Earth, Wind, and Fire
o Keep Your Head Up- Andy Grammer
o Bad Day- Daniel Powter
o Samba da Bencao- Bebel Gilberto
o Love Song- Selena Gomez and the Scene
o Live and Let Die- Paul McCartney
 Ten CD players
 Ten CD’s- with the music from the song list
 Individual song names written on paper
 Play Microphone
Hook:
Using one of the CD’s and players, play Love Song by Selena Gomez and the Scene as
they enter the classroom and take their seats. Dance and bounce around to it. Sing along into
the microphone! Go around the class and try to get students to sing along with you!
Teaching Presentation:
 If any students are willing to play along and have fun, ask them why they liked opening
with a song. If no one liked the exercise, ask what they didn’t like about the song. What
are your favorite genres of music? Why do you like it? Is it fun? Heart-wrenching?
Cheery? Do you agree that music is enjoyed because it is impactful? Music is full of
emotion. Do you think musicians are kind of like actors in that respect? They’re putting
on a character to get the message of their music across.
 Have the students stand up. Explain to them that you will turn on different types of
music. You want them to think about the song for a little bit and decide on which
emotion the artist is trying to convey. Then the students need to act out that emotion in
whatever way they feel inclined.
 Start playing the music in this order:
1. Rafiki Mourns- The Lion King
2. September- Earth, Wind, and Fire
3. Keep your Head Up- Andy Grammer
4. Samba da Bencao- Bebel Gilberto
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5. Spectrum Song- Sherman/Sherman
6. Nessum Dorma- Paul Potts
7. Bad Day- Daniel Powter
8. Live and Let Die- Paul McCartney
9. Do you Love Me- The Contours
10. Love Song- Selena Gomez and the Scene
Play each song for about a minute, giving the students time to go for it. Push them out
of their comfort zone a little bit. If they are having a hard time, call out a couple of
emotions that you hear in the song.
1. Fear, sadness, mourning
2. Excitement, elation, smiles
3. Encouragement, happiness, hope
4. Relaxation, calm, contemplative
5. Silliness, fun
6. Confidence, heavy-hearted
7. Hurt, depressed, upset
8. Power, force
9. Excited, optimistic, hopeful
10. Confusion, excitement, love
Point out the stations around the room with each CD player and CD as you tape up the
song name signs. Give the students five minutes to decipher which song fits their
interpretation of their monologue. Ask them to congregate at each station as it applies
to their monologues. Ask them to practice their monologues to the music. Follow the
rhythm, feel the music enter your soul as you rehearse the lines of your monologue.
Ask them to discuss with their groups why they chose that particular song. Come up
with three reasons they work well with those monologues. Gather whole class together
and talk about those reasons.
Guide the discussion towards the emotions they are feeling. Are they easier to tap into
when you have music supporting your character’s emotions? Do you think you could go
that deep without the music?
Try it! Rehearse your monologues while keeping the tunes of those songs in your head.
Walk around and help them try to emote what they need to. Ask questions about their
emotions and try to help them connect with their characters’ emotions.
Assign them to write a half page essay on who they are talking to in the monologue.
What do they see? Where are they? Who is this person? What is their relationship?
Play music again as they leave.
Monologue Unit
Lesson Five: Who are you talking to?
Educational Objective:
Students will demonstrate their ability to relate to an unseen character by performing
to partners at the same time.
Materials Needed:
 Clean room so the students can spread out and relax
Hook:
When the students come in, have them find their own space in the room, close their
eyes, and start to meditate. Ask them to imagine one of their parents. What does their hair look
like? What is the expression on his or her face? How is your parent holding himself or herself?
Does he/she look nice? Now, imagine your best friend. What are you two doing? What does
his/her hair look like? Are they wearing jewelry? Where are you hanging out? What are you
doing?
Teaching Presentation:
 Do you see the character opposite of you in your monologue just as clearly? Why not? In
every monologue, you are talking to someone. You need to be able to see that person
and truly talk to them.
 Have them close their eyes again and imagine the characters they’re talking to in their
monologues. Ask those same specific questions from the hook.
 Explain that the character opposite you will react to your monologue. Do you mentally
see those reactions? You need to react to their reactions. Are they yelling back at you?
What are they saying to you?
 Assign pairs. Have each student recite their monologues to each other at the same time.
This will give them an unexpected reaction. Most reactions won’t even fit, but it will
make a challenge for the actors so they will stretch themselves with memorization and
with different tactics to get what they want.
 Ask for a volunteer to perform their monologue in front of the class. Also ask for a
volunteer to be the imagined character. As the first student begins the monologue,
coach the second student to give reactions to the first student. It will throw them off for
a bit, but force them to react to their imaginary character. Do this with every student.
Monologue Unit
Lesson Six: Final Performances
Educational Objective:
Students will demonstrate their applied learning and monologue practice by performing
their full monologue alone in front of the class.
Materials Needed:
 Stopwatch or timer of some kind
 Rubrics for grading students, (influenced by and partly taken from
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=monologue%20rubric&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&
ved=0CDEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcl.k12.md.us%2FCRHS%2Fportfolio%2Fmonolouoge.doc&
ei=h-t7UKC8OIzYigL6m4CQBA&usg=AFQjCNEebx8gp7Q7aTpfpoLmkLv4P-agNQ)
Teaching Presentation:
 First ask for volunteers to perform their monologues, then call on students if no one else
volunteers. All students must slate and perform their monologues in under three
minutes. Time them.
 Thank them for their hard work. Give some class notes on monologues that applied to
many students, then dismiss them.
Monologue Rubric
Criteria
Elements
Physical
Delivery
Speaking
Techniques
Memorization
Excellent Work
(88-100 points)
point of view
and person are
integrated; an
implied listener
is evident
throughout the
monologue
natural gestures
and movement
enhance
message; fit
character or role
adjusts volume,
tone, and pace to
achieve a special
effect or for
impact;
nonverbal
gestures and
facial expression
enhance
characterization
Good Work
(80-88 points)
point of view
and person are
clear, focused,
and consistent;
an implied
listener is
established
gestures or
movements are
fine, but may
have omitted
obvious
character
behaviors
uses volume,
tone, and pace
appropriate to
the content and
purpose;
nonverbal
gestures and
facial
expression suit
the character
Fully
memorized and
does not need
any prompting
from the teacher
Mostly
memorized but
stumbles over a
few thoughts or
phrases
Fair Work
(70-79 points)
point of view
and person are
clear and
consistent; an
implied listener
is evident
Poor Work
(0-69 points)
point of view and
person are
inconsistent; an
implied listener is
seldom evident
behaviors,
gestures, or
movements do
not fit the
character
lacks
involvement; no
movement or
gestures
uses volume,
tone, and pace
somewhat to
suit the content
and purpose;
nonverbal
gestures and
facial
expressions are
occasionally
distracting or
inappropriate to
the character
Poorly
memorized;
needs
prompting from
the teacher
uses volume,
tone, and pace
inappropriately or
ineffectively;
limited use of
nonverbal
gestures and
facial expressions
Not memorized;
needs constant
prompting from
the teacher
Comments:
Total: _____ / 100