high school drama essay

Essays About Drama: Top 5 Examples and 5 Prompts

The word drama covers many meanings and subjects; if you are writing essays about drama, discover our guide with interesting essay examples and writing prompts featured here.

What is drama to you? Many know it as a situation or event in which emotions run high. For others, the grand, intricate stage plays of Shakespeare and others of his time come to mind. Regardless, these and all other definitions of drama share one thing in common: emotion.

In all its forms, from theatre to television to cinema to even day-to-day interaction, drama is always centered around emotion, tension, and conflict- things we experience daily. Drama is, quite literally, our life, complete with all its imperfections, troubles, twists, and turns. 

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers

1. The History of Drama by Homer Stewart

2. why the news is not the truth by peter vanderwicken, 3. drama reflection essay (author unknown), 4. kitchen sink dramas by rodolfo chandler, 5. love yourself, not your drama by crystal jackson, 6. shakespeare’s theater: an essay from the folger shakespeare editions by barbara mowat and paul werstine, 1. what is drama, 2. types of drama, 3. the history of drama, 4. is the world over-dramatized today, 5. a dramatic incident of the past.

“Perhaps the most theatrical form of drama was opera which is still popular in today’s society. Broadway is certainly a sight that attracts thousands of people annually. In addition, the playwrights of today are striving to make the theatrical experience meaningful to the lives of viewers so that it is not just simply “pleasant entertainment”. Many themes that drama plays in modern times focus on are social problems, tragedies involving the elements of love and hate and as well as social problems that affect the inhabitants of today.”

Stewart gives readers a brief history of drama and its subjects. In different eras, the plays were based around themes and ideas prevalent in those times; for example, the Romantic Period focused on the “experiences of ordinary people.” He also references several playwrights, including Friedrich von Schiller and Percy Bysshe Shelley. In modern times, drama is centered around critical social issues while still managing to be engaging and entertaining.

“Pulitzer turned them into stories with a sharp dramatic focus that both implied and aroused intense public interest. Most newspapers of the time looked like the front page of the Wall Street Journal still does. Pulitzer made stories dramatic by adding blaring headlines, big pictures, and eye-catching graphics. His journalism took events out of their dry, institutional contexts and made them emotional rather than rational, immediate rather than considered, and sensational rather than informative.”

Vanderwicken criticizes the state of news today, saying that many stories are dramatized and outright fabricated to make them more entertaining. He attributes this to Joseph Pulitzer of Pulitzer Prize fame, who introduced He also gives historical examples of instances where the media has exaggerated – news today is too dramatic, and it must change.

You might also be interested in these essays about Macbeth .

“I felt that this learning experience is a very huge step because it takes us from doing a play which is very immature in to something that is big and has maturity in it. It helps me to practice in fluency, public speaking and mostly self-confidence. In the play I developed my ways of acting and how to put emotions in to the character, in which those emotions were not really me.”

This essay describes lessons one can learn from performing drama, such as confidence and speaking fluently. The author also reflects on an experience performing in drama, where the author learned to be more expressive, speak better, and become more hardworking. There is also a brief discussion on the elements of drama, including plot and setting. Drama is important and can teach you essential skills and lessons. 

“In the late 1950s in Britain, the “Kitchen Sink movement”, which is also known as “Kitchen Sink realism” occurred. This cultural movement stemed from ideas about working class activities. A typical writer of kitchen sink dramas is John Osborne, for example his drama “Look back in anger” which aroused many strong opinions when it was first performed as a drama. It is set in a small flat in the west midlands, which is typical of working class people.”

Chandler describes a period in drama where “kitchen sink dramas” depicted working-class stories. He uses John Osborne’s “Look Back in Anger” as an example, briefly describing the play. Jimmy, one of the characters, was known as an “angry young man,” This term was later used to describe young people critical of the social and political state of the world.

“We learn to recognize co-dependence, narcissism, and toxicity for what they are rather than making excuses because we liked the look of someone. In other words, we grow up. We stay in love with our own toxic patterns and keep the cycle of damage going, or we recognize the collateral damage of all our drama and start wanting better for ourselves. We make choices. We experience consequences. If we grow up, we’ll even connect the two.”

Jackson’s essay discusses drama from another perspective, the drama that comes with love life. She gives readers tips on how to care for yourself better and look past all the tension, confusion, and drama that comes with dating. If we look at potential partners from a deeper, more constructive point of view, we can avoid toxic relationships and have a healthy love life. 

“When performance required that an actor appear “above,” as when Juliet is imagined to stand at the window of her chamber in the famous and misnamed “balcony scene,” then the actor probably climbed the stairs to the gallery over the back of the stage and temporarily shared it with some of the spectators. The stage was also provided with ropes and winches so that actors could descend from, and reascend to, the “heavens.””

In their essay, Mowat and Werstine discuss the conventions of performing Shakespearean drama during his time, including the performance of some scenes in different areas of the theater and men playing women’s roles. They also discuss how the theaters they performed in, such as the Globe Theatre, enhanced the plays’ dramatic effect.

5 Prompts for Essays About Drama

The word drama has many meanings and is used differently, as seen in the essay examples above. In your essay, give the word’s etymology, explain the different sides of drama, from theatre to school life, and give examples of how they exemplify the meaning. Explain how they are all connected as well. 

Drama in the context of theatre has four primary forms: comedy, tragedy, tragicomedy, and melodrama. Discuss each type of drama and elaborate on its characteristics. If you wish, compare and contrast them as well. Be sure to give examples of plays when explaining them.   

In your essay, you can also discuss the different periods in the history of drama. Explain what occurred in these periods, how drama changed, and their effects on modern drama. You need not explore too many periods; just make sure you write about key developments and explain them adequately. 

In the world today, the resilience of survivors is glorified and dramatized, while we see media outlets making headlines out of mere gossip and celebrity news. From this, it can be argued that society is centered around making a drama out of nothing. Why is this the case? Discuss your opinion on this issue- feel free to research if you need inspiration. 

Look back to a past event marked by tension, emotion, and drama. Narrate the events and explain how they made you feel- did you learn anything from them? This can be either your own experience or just an event from history or the news. You can read this essay for further inspiration. 

Note: drama can mean different things to different people, so what you consider “dramatic” is up to you.For help picking your next essay topic, check out our top essay topics about love .

Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

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Literary Theory and Criticism

Home › Drama Criticism › Analysis of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters

Analysis of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on August 4, 2020 • ( 0 )

Like steam, life can be compressed into a narrow little container, but, also like steam, it will endure pressure only to a certain point. And in Three Sisters , this pressure is brought to the limit, beyond which it will explode—and don’t you actually hear how life is seething, doesn’t its angrily protesting voice reach your ears?

—Leonid Andreev, “Three Sisters,” in The Complete Collected Works

Regarded by many as the playwright’s masterwork, Three Sisters —the third of Anton Chekhov’s four major full-length dramas—is his longest and most complex play. Chekhov’s contemporary Maxim Gorky memorably praised its initial production in 1901 as “music, not acting,” and considered Three Sisters the most profound and effective of Chekhov’s plays. It is in many ways the archetypal modern drama that pioneered a new dramatic vision and method for the stage. Contemporary audiences and readers now familiar with the dramatic lessons of futility and frustrated expectations by such playwrights as Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter may overlook just how radical and trail-blazing Three Sisters was. Half a century before Waiting for Godot, Chekhov based his play on waiting for something that never happens, in which decisive actions and resolvable conflicts—essential ingredients of conventional drama—are replaced by paralysis, ennui, and the inconsequential. Almost a century before Jerry Seinfeld promoted a situation comedy in which “nothing happens,” Chekhov offered a tragicomedy on the same terms: keeping the expected dramatic climaxes offstage, concentrating instead on the interior drama just below the surface of the routine and ordinary. By doing so Three Sisters fundamentally challenged the accepted stage assumptions of its day, while establishing a new dramatic logic and procedure that have influenced and shaped the drama that followed it.

The Russian stage that Chekhov would transform was derivative, stultifying, and moribund in the 1880s and 1890s when he began as a dramatist. Censorship was more severe for the stage than for print, and consequently the Russian theater was dominated by the innocuous, by irreproachable patriotic spectacles, by well-worn melodramas, diverting musical plays, and safe imports. Moreover, the playwright’s financial reward for a successful play was much less than for fiction. This was a key factor why Chekhov, who had a lifelong interest in the theater, supported his family in Moscow in the 1880s as he studied medicine mainly by writing short stories and comic sketches. The Russian stage could neither sustain nor accommodate serious writers, and Russian drama fell far short of the achievement of Russian poetry and fiction during the 19th century. Feodor Dostoevsky, that most dramatic of all novelists, did not compose a single play, while Ivan Turgenev, whose atmospheric and nuanced slice-of-life dramas, particularly A Month in the Country (1850), anticipated Chekhov’s works, abandoned the theater early in his career. The gradual movement toward an indigenous drama and stage realism in Russia, initiated by Nikolai Gogol in The Inspector General, was sustained by the era’s most popular dramatist, Aleksandr Ostrovsky (1823–86), the first Russian writer to devote himself exclusively to the theater. Ostrovsky helped popularize the appearance of ordinary Russian characters and recognizable situations on stage in his nearly 50 plays that depicted scenes from Moscow life. Chek-hov, who would build on the foundations that Gogol and Ostrovsky had laid, began his dramatic career composing vaudeville sketches and short comic curtain-raisers, many adapted from his short fiction and sketches. His first full-length play, Ivanov (1887), is mainly conventional in its dramatic structure but contains traces of the innovations of psychological realism, atmosphere, and indirect action that would define the masterpieces to come. “I wanted to create something original,” Chekhov commented. “I did not portray a single villain or angel . . . did not indict anyone or acquit anyone. . . . Whether I succeeded in this, I do not know.” His second full-length play, The Wood Goblin , appeared in 1889 to poor reviews in which the playwright was taken to task for “blindly copying everyday life and paying no attention to the requirements of the stage.” Despite such censure Chekhov stood firm on the side of innovation, advising his brother in his own theatrical aspirations to “try to be original and as intelligent as possible, but don’t be afraid to look like a fool. . . . Don’t lick everything clean, don’t polish it up, but be clumsy and audacious. . . . Remember, by the way, that love scenes, wives and husbands cheating on one another, widows, orphans, and all the rest of the tear jerking have long since been described. The topic has to be a new one, but a plot is not necessary.”

It would finally take the conjunction of a unique play, a playwright of genius, and an independent and innovative theatrical company to bring Chekhov’s dramatic vision to fruition and public acceptance. The end of the monopoly of the imperial theaters in St. Petersburg and Moscow in the 1880s that had contributed to a conservative and staid Russian dramatic tradition provided an opening for inventive and original private theaters. The most famous of these was the Moscow Art Theater, founded by Konstantin Stanislavsky (1863–1938) and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko (1858–1943). Their company would emphasize ensemble acting and a scrupulous attention to stagecraft in which every aspect of a production—music, scenery, costumes, lighting, and especially acting styles—was joined into a unified dramatic whole. Stanislavsky, who would become one of the most important modern stage theorists, encouraged his acting troupe to replace the fashionable declamatory acting style with a psychological and emotional authenticity. These innovations perfectly suited Chekhov’s drama of subtext and atmosphere. The Moscow Art Theater’s second production was a revival of Chekhov’s The Seagull , his most innovative drama yet, written in Chekhov’s words, “contrary to all the rules of dramatic art.” Initially performed in St. Petersburg in 1896, its premiere was a disaster with actors who neither understood their roles nor their lines. Chekhov fled the theater during the second act, and critics blasted the play as inept and ridiculous. Nemirovich-Danchenko, however, was in attendance and convinced his partner, Stanislavsky, that the play had great potential. They managed to persuade Chekhov to let them take it on, and the Moscow Art Theater mounted it to great acclaim in 1898. The seagull would become the identifying logo of the Moscow Art Theater, which would go on to premiere Chekhov’s subsequent dramas and came to be called “the house of Chekhov.” The Seagull is a nuanced study of the nature of art and love in which conventional stage action takes place offstage. Traditional dramatic confl ict between characters is replaced by inner conflict within characters. Meaning is generated by counterpoint and juxtaposition of ideas and images, a dramatic method perfectly suited to the rich interplay of text, subtle stagecraft, and the psychological penetration pioneered by Stanislavsky and his company. Chekhov’s next play, Uncle Vanya (1899), a reworking of The Wood Goblin , continued the innovations of The Seagull ; external action is minimal, dramatic interest is extended to several characters who refuse to conform to conventional categories of heroes and villains, and the overall force of the play depends on the unspoken and on its atmosphere and mood, as in a lyrical poem.

Three Sisters , which followed next, was the first of Chekhov’s plays to be written specifically for the Moscow Art Theater, drawing intentionally on the company’s strengths and production possibilities. At the outset Chekhov realized that his conception would prove “more difficult than the earlier plays.” As he observed, “I am writing not a play but some kind of maze. Lots of characters—it may be that I lose my way and give up writing.” Begun around November 1899, Three Sisters would not be completed until January 1901. Interweaving the complex relationships of multiple characters over a number of years, the play is possibly the closest Chekhov ever came to writing with the scope and texture of a novel. Three Sisters is Chekhov’s version of the fall of the house of Atreus in which a family implodes, not as in Aeschylus’s tragedy from overt crimes and betrayals, but from the covert, from the subtle collusion of time, place, and human nature. Set in a provincial backwater, the play focuses on the Prozorov family—sisters Olga, Masha, and Irina and their brother, Andrei—who have settled there from Moscow when their widowed father, a Russian general, was put in charge of the local regiment 11 years before. In act 1 it is the name day of the youngest of the three, 20-year-old Irina, as well as the first anniversary of their father’s death. A trivial series of external activities—the arrival of celebrating guests, small talk, a family dinner—eventually expose a complex inner conflict in which oppressiveness and aimlessness overwhelm the family. Beneath the placid surface of respectability and cultured chatter the Prozorovs and their guests feel stifled “as weeds do grass,” with signs of decay everywhere around them. Andrei, the family’s great hope to become a professor in Moscow and rescue them all from the provinces, has grown fat and lazy in the year since his father’s death; Olga, bitterly unmarried and longing for domestic tranquillity, suffers from headaches and continual exhaustion as a schoolteacher, while Masha, miserable in her marriage to a pompous schoolmaster, indulges in poetic melancholy. Only Irina remains hopeful and committed to achieving a new purposeful life while holding true to the dream that has sustained them all for more than a decade: getting back to Moscow. The act reveals, indirectly by innuendo and symbol (such as constant reference to time), a spent family group in which the old values and prospects no longer sustain them. The sisters and their brother have been raised to a level of cultural refinement that their tawdry provincial environment neither values nor shares. The Prozorovs are shown to be incapable of adapting to their altered circumstances. The new order that will vanquish the old is represented by a local girl—Natasha—who, despite her vulgarity and awkwardness among the sisters and their circle of fashionable officers, succeeds in captivating Andrei, and the act ends with his marriage proposal.

Act 2 takes place at least a year later in the same setting, but with the focus on the changes that have occurred: Andrei has lost all ambitions to become a Moscow professor and spends much of his time gambling and trying to forget how ill-bred and selfish the woman he has married is; Olga is exhausted by her teaching and has largely given over the running of their house to Natasha, who demands more and more deference from the sisters. Irina has taken a job she despises in the telegraph office, while Masha is the object of affection of Vershinin, the battery commander, who is seeking relief from his neurotic, suicidal wife. Such exposition, as well as evidence of the further erosion of the family, emerge only gradually from snatches of dialogue and details that break through from another sequence of ostensibly trivial external activities. Natasha overrules the family tradition of entertaining the Carnival mummers on behalf of her baby son, who “is not at all well,” and later quietly intimidates Irina to give up her room: “My dear, my own, move in with Olga for a while! . . . You and Olga will be in one room, for this little while, and your room will be for Bobik.” Breaking through the placid domestic routine is the unmistakable signs of the dispossession of the Prozorovs by Natasha and the new order that she represents. Using her son as a weapon against the sisters, Natasha dominates the sisters and their brother, and the Prozorovs have neither the spirit nor the will to resist this ambitious arriviste.

Analysis of Anton Chekhov’s Plays

In act 3, a few more years have passed. The action takes place in Olga and Irina’s cramped upstairs bedroom as a fire rages in the town. As he had done in The Seagull and would repeat in The Cherry Orchard , Chekhov irradiates his naturalistic details with symbols that comment on and clarify the dramatic action. Here the fire serves to underline the crisis that threatens to destroy the Prozorovs as their collective and individual dreams are consumed and extinguished. Natasha has grown mercilessly and rudely imperious; Masha seeks relief in a doomed affair with Vershinin, while Irina reluctantly agrees to marry her persistent suitor, Baron Tusenbach, whom she does not love, resigned to her fate that she will never get back to Moscow and that she is drying up into “nothing—no satisfaction of any kind.” For the sisters all their dreams of a useful and emotionally satisfying life in Moscow are abandoned, leaving them, like the town around them, in ruin.

The play that had begun in the spring with the exuberant dreams of youth at Irina’s name day concludes symbolically in autumn with the news that the last bulwark for the Prozorovs to support their claim to culture and distinction and ward off terminal boredom—their relationship with the officers of their father’s former regiment—is ending with the unit’s transfer to Poland. Set in the barren garden of the Prozorovs’ home, the act is a series of crushing leave-takings and reassessments, each more painful than the last, underscoring the completion of the Prozorovs’ dispossession. Olga, now schoolmistress, is departing to live in meagre quarters in the school. Irina and Tusenbach are to be married the next day, and then they will leave for a proposed new, active life. The Baron is to manage a brickyard, while Irina will teach school. However, the Baron’s rival for Irina, the bully Solyony, has picked a fight and challenged Tusenbach to a duel. As the marching music of the departing regiment is heard, the news arrives that the Baron has been killed. The play closes with the three sisters supporting one another, sustained by an uncertain future consolation, much as they had been by their dream of returning to Moscow. Olga remarks:

The music is playing so gaily, cheerfully, and I feel like living! Oh, dear Lord! Time will pass, and we’ll be gone forever, people will forget us, they’ll forget our faces, voices, and how many of us there were, but our suffering will turn to joy for those who live after us, happiness and peace will come into being on this earth, and those who live now will be remembered with a kind word and a blessing. Oh, dear sisters, this life of ours is not over yet. Let’s go on living! The music plays so gaily, so cheerfully, and it looks like just a little while longer and we shall learn why we’re alive, why we suffer . . . If only we knew, if only we knew!

Facing the reality of their suffering and its causes while persisting in the business of living are the best that Olga can offer her family and what Chekhov offers his audience. In Three Sisters Chekhov, through his group protagonist and integration of surface detail and symbol, has discovered a powerful means of dramatizing the often unconscious and mainly hidden sources of human passion, dreams, and delusions. By restricting the conventional dramatic conflicts and climaxes offstage, Chekhov brings to center stage a drama of every-day life that is simultaneously utterly convincing in its specificity and profound in its universal significance.

Analysis of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard

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Secondary Curriculum

The secondary school is divided into two stages… grades 7-8 (the Logic Stage) and grades 9-12 (the Rhetoric Stage).

In grades 7-8, the students take the mastered information from the Grammar Stage and bring it into ordered relationships. Students begin to apply logic, assessing the validity of arguments and learning to view information critically with more discerning minds.

In grades 9-12, students learn to articulate eloquently and persuasively, and to use the tools of knowledge and understanding acquired in the earlier stages. This is the point at which the strength of a classical education is made fully visible.

Click here for an overview of the Logos School secondary curriculum.

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Class Schedules

Spring 2024 Finals Schedule    7th-12th grades only.

23-24 Fall Class Schedule     7th-12th grades only.

Senior Course Options: 

By the time students reach their senior year in high school, they have usually developed interests in specific areas. Therefore, they will be given the opportunity to pursue those areas through the following senior course options. These options are designed to allow students the opportunity to learn one or two subjects well. As Dorothy Sayers says, “Whatever is mere apparatus may now be allowed to fall into the background, while the trained mind is gradually prepared for specialization in the “subjects” which, when the Trivium is completed, it should be perfectly well equipped to tackle on its own.” (from The Lost Tools of Learning) These options should aid the transition from the completion of the Trivium to the more specialized study that is a part of a college or university education.

Option 1: College or Online Class

This is a 1 credit option in which a student enrolls in a college or online class. Approved subjects include math, science, theology, humanities, and fine arts. The class must be taken for credit and the student must submit a transcript to receive credit toward Logos graduation. Areas of study that do not qualify are recreational classes and/or self-guided courses with little accountability.

Option 2: Internship

The internship is a 1/2 credit option intended to provide seniors with the opportunity to study a career. Students must work a minimum of 2 hours per week on their internship. A variety of internships have been approved in the past (interning with an elementary or secondary Logos teacher, riding along with police officers, observing at a local vet clinic, etc.). Students are not allowed to be paid for the time they spend as an intern. Parents are responsible to provide oversight and any necessary supervision or screening (background checks, etc.) for this experience.

Procedures for Both Options

1. At least two weeks before the beginning of each semester, students must submit a written proposal to the principal, via email. Late proposals will not be considered. Proposals must describe the following:

a. the main purpose of and goals for the program

b. the work that the student will be doing weekly to achieve these goals (include the website link for online classes)

c. the number of hours per week that the student will be participating in the program

2. Students have two days to resubmit proposals that have been denied.

Guidelines for Both Options

1. Credit will not be granted for work completed before a proposal is approved.

2. Students will receive a grade of E, S, or U at the end of each quarter and semester.

3. Failure to make satisfactory progress in the first semester will disqualify the student from participating in these programs during the second semester.

4. Students may only request approval for one semester at a time.

Dialectic Speech Meet

The following is information for the Dialectic Speech Meet for the 7 th -9 th grade students. Most of the work and grading is done during English class. For the final meet onwards, the students will perform their pieces with students from other classes in the same category. That afternoon during 7 th period there will be an assembly to hear the top performances from each category.

• Mid-December – information goes home
• Mid-January – Selections are due
• Toward the end of January – Piece is presented for a grade
• Beginning of February – Speech Meet

Dialectic Speech Meet Guidelines Dialectic Speech Meet Judge’s Form Dialectic Speech Meet Selection Ideas

Rhetoric Speech Meet

The following is information for the upcoming Rhetoric Speech Meet for the 10 th -12 th grade students. Please note a few differences between the Dialectic Speech Meet of the 7 th -9 th graders and the Rhetoric Speech Meet:

• Poetry must be through the Poetry Out Loud program.
• Readers Theater and the Original Oratory categories are allowed.
• Children’s books and plays are allowed as sources for material.
• There is no memory check. Pieces will be presented once in class for a grade, and once at the meet for a test grade.
• Mid-September – Information goes home.
• Beginning of October – Selections are due.
• Mid-October – The piece is presented for a memory grade.
• Beginning of November– Speech Meet

Guidelines Judging Form Selection Ideas

Four Students Win Seventh Annual KBHF Essay Contest

Four high school students from across Kansas have won $500 each in the seventh annual Kansas Business Hall of Fame essay contest. The contest was open to students in Grades 9 through 12 in Kansas with entries from homeschooled students also accepted.

Original essays were based on research of a Kansas Business Hall of Fame honoree inducted into one of two categories: Historical or Contemporary. Inductees can be found at www.ksbhf.org . Students could read about the inductees and choose one that inspired them. They were encouraged to use their own personal thoughts and views that best pertained to the theme and themselves. Sixty-six entries from 14 Kansas high schools were judged by a panel of business professionals and business faculty.

Below are the four winning authors and the KBHF inductee they wrote about:

• Addilyn Bruns, freshman, homeschooled, Topeka, inductee Arthur Capper
• Aubryn Garriott, senior, Olpe High School, inductee Bill Kurtis
• Lucy Krebsbach, freshman, homeschooled, Meriden, inductee Charles Walker
• Benjamin Soyka, senior, Leavenworth High School, inductee Warren Augustine Bechtel

The prize money totaling $2,000 was graciously donated by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce. Winning authors were mailed or presented their certificates.

Dr. James Leiker, KBHF Board Chair, said, “The Kansas Business Hall of Fame is proud to honor these students and their instructors, who, through these essays, help us better understand the rich tradition of entrepreneurship and innovation that our state has fostered.”

The winning students will be invited to the KBHF Induction Ceremony on Thursday, June 13, in Cremer Hall on the campus of Emporia State University, where they will receive their prizes.

The KBHF Board would like to thank the following judges: Susan Elliott, Beth Ginter, Paul Grimes, Sherriene Jones-Sontag, Connie Lindell, Jeff Muldoon, John Rich, Butch Sim, Ed Bashaw and Jim Shepherd.

About the Kansas Business Hall of Fame: Housed in Emporia State University’s School of Business Cremer Hall, the Kansas Business Hall of Fame recognizes business leaders who have added to the prestige and growth of Kansas. By identifying outstanding examples of business leadership, the Hall of Fame shares these stories of success and innovation through representative displays. The Hall of Fame creates an awareness and appreciation of Kansas' rich heritage of business leadership. The Board is made up of individuals from all over the state of Kansas with representatives from universities, community colleges, and private and public businesses. For more information, please go to www.ksbhf.org .

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Trump’s criminal trial, explained.

Figures from Donald Trump’s past have sworn an oath that could threaten his future.

By Jonah E. Bromwich

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David Pecker, the mustachioed ex-publisher of The National Enquirer, delivered damning testimony in a mild tone against a man he said he still considered a friend. At the campaign’s behest, he said, he paid other accusers not to tell their stories about Trump. Reporters nicknamed him the tabloid grandfather, for his apparently kindly manner, even as he told ruthless stories about tarring Trump’s political enemies with mocking headlines.

Daniels entered the courtroom in a long black cloak with a hood. Her testimony was riveting. She appeared nervous at first as she recalled an encounter she says she had with Trump in a Nevada hotel room. But when Trump’s lawyer rose to question her, Daniels sat up straighter and fought back. “You have a lot of experience in making phony stories about sex appear to be real,” the defense lawyer said. Daniels shot back: “The sex in the films, it’s very much real. Just like what happened to me in that room.”

Cohen, who took the stand on Monday and was still testifying yesterday, is the prosecution’s most important witness. Only he ties Trump directly to the alleged crime. On two occasions, he said, Trump acknowledged of the scheme to disguise reimbursements for the hush money. Cohen’s tale is a parable of loyalty and betrayal: He says that he turned on the former president after Trump failed to support him in 2018, when federal prosecutors originally began investigating the hush-money payment.

It’s jarring for these creatures of the attention-seeking worlds of reality television, supermarket tabloids and politics to be ensconced in a small courtroom where only a few dozen people can hear their testimony against the former president. The trial isn’t broadcast. So instead of creating a show for the cameras, their stories are enlivened by lawyers’ questioning, documentary evidence and reporters who feed their editors and producers from their laptops inside the room.

Initially, Trump pushed back on the proceedings, insulting Daniels and Cohen and suggesting the jurors were a bunch of biased Democrats. But the judge has forbidden Trump from talking about witnesses or jurors, fined him $10,000 for violating the order and threatened to send him to jail. Since then, in the courtroom, Trump has seemed diminished. Silence does not suit him. Seated at the defense table for hours on end, he has often shut his eyes, blocking out the courtroom where 12 New Yorkers will soon determine his future.

More from court yesterday:

Trump’s lawyer aggressively questioned Cohen , trying to undermine his credibility by confronting him about his past lies.

The defense also accused Cohen of lying about a 2016 phone call in which he claimed to have spoken to Trump about the hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels. “I believe I spoke to Mr. Trump,” Cohen responded, remaining mostly unfazed.

The jury heard audio of Cohen celebrating Trump’s indictment on his podcast, saying he hoped Trump “rots inside.” Prosecutors repeatedly objected to the defense’s questions.

Several right-wing House Republicans were at the courthouse to support Trump . “Standing back and standing by, Mr. President,” Matt Gaetz wrote on social media, a reference to Trump’s 2020 remarks about the Proud Boys, who later stormed the Capitol.

On late night, Seth Meyers mocked the Republicans supporting Trump at his trial .

Trump plans to attend his son Barron’s high-school graduation today, and the trial will resume next week. The judge told lawyers to prepare to make closing arguments by Tuesday.

THE LATEST NEWS

Supreme Court

An upside-down American flag, a protest symbol among Trump supporters, flew outside Justice Samuel Alito’s house as the court considered an election case days after Jan. 6, a Times investigation found.

In a 7-2 ruling, the Supreme Court rejected a conservative challenge to how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded, which could have gutted the agency’s regulations on mortgages and banking.

2024 Elections

President Biden used executive privilege to block House Republicans from getting recordings of his interview with prosecutors who investigated his handling of government documents. The move could also help shield his attorney general from House contempt charges.

Trump said he was open to letting Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent candidate, participate in presidential debates . Biden’s campaign opposes that.

Serbia approved a contract with Jared Kushner to build a luxury hotel in Belgrade. The deal puts Kushner in business with another country as his father-in-law runs for president.

Larry Hogan, Maryland’s Republican former governor, said he supported abortion rights and called himself “pro-choice,” a major pivot as he runs for Senate in the heavily Democratic state.

Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy’s wealthy running mate, gave their campaign another $8 million to get on state ballots.

Cobalt is necessary for electric-vehicle batteries, and Congo has a lot of it. The Biden administration is changing its policies to get more cobalt to the U.S., upsetting some activists.

More on Politics

Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas pardoned a man who fatally shot a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020.

Senator Robert Menendez’s wife has breast cancer , he revealed during their bribery trial. The jury in the trial held the gold bars at the center of the case.

Israel-Hamas War

Israel said yesterday that it plans to send more troops into Rafah , which it calls a Hamas stronghold. The U.S. and others have warned that a full invasion could be disastrous for civilians.

Israel has described its operation in Rafah as limited, but satellite imagery shows widespread destruction as forces push toward the city center.

The House passed a bill to rebuke Biden for pausing an arms shipment to Israel. It is symbolic and has no chance of becoming law .

The first humanitarian supplies have entered Gaza on a temporary pier built by the U.S. military.

The police raided a pro-Palestinian encampment at U.C. Berkley and arrested at least 12 people after ordering protesters to disperse.

War in Ukraine

Ukraine hit energy facilities in Russia and Crimea with a huge drone attack , Moscow said.

As Russia advances, NATO is considering sending military trainers to Ukraine .

Other Big Stories

Storms around Houston killed at least four people and knocked out power for more than a million.

Slovakia’s politics were toxic long before its prime minister was shot .

People in Taiwan are served pro-China content on TikTok. Instead of considering a ban, the government says it’s pursuing a wider struggle against disinformation .

Partisans on the left and right are unwilling to accept challenges to their beliefs . They make it difficult for the majority to engage in politics, David French argues.

The current Supreme Court has been a committed defender of free speech. State bans on sharing information about abortion put that commitment to the test, Linda Greenhouse writes.

Here are columns by Michelle Goldberg on “wokeness” and David Brooks on God and nation .

MORNING READS

Birth control: The pill makes some women miserable. Read what they’re doing about it .

50,000 calories: Scientists calculated how much energy a pregnant woman expends carrying a baby. It’s a lot .

Scam or not: Do pimple patches work ?

The Pour: Ukrainian wines are finding a global audience .

Lives Lived: Nancy Neveloff Dubler pioneered bedside methods for helping patients, their families and doctors deal with agonizing life-and-death decisions, and she used that knowledge in her own final months. She died at 82 .

Wild: Surprisingly often, animals gatecrash sporting events.

N.B.A.: The Dallas Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, giving the team a 3-2 series advantage. The Boston Celtics cruised to a series win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

N.F.L.: The league released its full schedule , which includes a surprise deal with Netflix to air games on Christmas Day.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Music baffles evolutionary scientists. They ask: Did our ancestors sing to attract mates? Or is music a product of culture? There isn’t an answer yet. But in a new study, researchers found universal features of songs across many cultures, suggesting that music evolved in our distant ancestors.

“It shows us that there may be really something that is universal to all humans that cannot simply be explained by culture,” said Daniela Sammler, a neuroscientist. Read more about where music may come from .

More on culture

In a viral commencement speech, Harrison Butker, an N.F.L. player for Kansas City, quoted Taylor Swift lyrics while telling women to focus on being homemakers . Many people were outraged.

The Disney+ series “X-Men ’97” builds on its 1990s predecessor. The show “ surpasses that original series ,” Maya Phillips writes.

The production team behind the Amy Winehouse biopic “Back to Black” toned down the singer’s beehive and used some of her clothes.

Meet the couple behind the popular “Five Minute Journal,” which helped create the wave of self-improvement and mindfulness .

THE MORNING RECOMMENDS …

Toss a bright, creamy lemon-garlic linguine with a few simple ingredients .

Visit Le Havre, where impressionism was born .

Lower your blood pressure with exercise.

Prepare margaritas with a premade mix .

Watch a movie outdoors with a projector screen .

Take our news quiz .

Here is today’s Spelling Bee . Yesterday’s pangrams were gallivant, gallivanting and vigilant .

And here are today’s Mini Crossword , Wordle , Sudoku , Connections and Strands .

Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow.

P.S. Lauren Jackson, this newsletter’s associate editor, wrote about how growing up Mormon , part of what’s known formally as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informs her work as a journalist.

Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox . Reach our team at [email protected] .

Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney’s office and state criminal courts in Manhattan. More about Jonah E. Bromwich

Exciting News from Ankeny High School Drama Department!

We’re bursting with pride to announce that the recent production of Anything Goes by the AHS Drama Department has garnered significant recognition from the Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards!

Under the guidance of our talented directors PJ Hurley and Mollie Blahunka, the production has been honored with multiple awards, including the prestigious Outstanding Overall Performance and Outstanding Ensemble accolades.

But the celebrations don’t stop there! We’re thrilled to congratulate the following students for their exceptional performances in principal roles:

• Jenna Freeseman as “Reno Sweeney”
• Charles Heuton as “Billy Crocker”
• Carter Evans as “Moonface Martin”
• Evan Huegel as “Erma”

In addition, Adam Van Thomme has received Special Recognition for his standout portrayal of “Lord Evelyn Oakleigh.”

We’re also thrilled to share that the dedication and talent of our behind-the-scenes crew have not gone unnoticed. Special commendations were given to our Stage Manager, Jade Williams, and Student Director, Bekkah Sherman.

The cherry on top? Jenna Freeseman will be showcasing her remarkable talent with a solo performance at the Civic Center during the Awards Showcase on May 30th!

None of this would be possible without the unwavering support of our community. Thank you for your continued encouragement of the Drama Department. We’re grateful for the opportunities provided to our students through programs like this. Let’s keep the applause going!

High school students hire bagpiper to prank principal

Richwoods High School Principal William "Billy" Robison said he didn't mind.

For their senior prank, students at Richwoods High School in Peoria, Illinois, recently came up with the hilarious idea to hire a bagpipe player to perform while following their principal around school grounds.

Maggie Moore, a student at Richwoods High, shared video footage of the prank with Storyful, which shows the bagpiper tailing Principal William "Billy" Robison on May 9 for about an hour without fail, all while playing.

Basketball team hilariously pranks coach after winning state championship

Robison told local newspaper the (Peoria) Journal Star that he had "a great time" with the "phenomenal" bagpiper. According to Robison, he may have had the last laugh in the end.

Co-workers prank employee on his last day before retiring

"I love bagpipes. The kids didn't know that," Robison said. "He showed up at the office and started playing, said, 'I'm gonna follow you around for an hour.' I said 'OK, let's go.' He gave the kids their money's worth. Everyone had a great time."

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ABC News Live

24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events

Classical Christian curriculum and resources for the home and classroom

OLD WESTERN CULTURE

The award-winning great books curriculum loved by students and parents.

Students are read through the greatest works of Western civilization from the ancient Greeks to the early modern period.

Grades: 9-12, and adult education Format: Video Course, Workbooks, Primary Texts, and Exams.

THE DANTE CURRICULUM

A new translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy and curriculum by Joe Carlson.

Grades 9-12, and adult education.

Available Components:

• Divine Comedy texts
• Reader Guides
• Comprehensive videocourse
• Teacher’s Edition with Lecture Notes

PICTA DICTA LATIN

Picta Dicta is revolutionizing the world of Latin education by returning to the classical principles of learning Latin combined with today’s technology. Using sight, sound, and context, students gain an intuitive grasp of Latin beginning in Primer I . Level-based readers that students enjoy are introduced early in the curriculum. The six levels take students from Zero to Vergil culminating in the reading of classical Latin texts. (Levels 4-6 still under development).

Grades: 3-12 + College

Grammar Courses • Latin Readers • Vocabulary Courses

FITTING WORDS CLASSICAL RHETORIC

Fitting Words instructs students in the art of classical Rhetoric, providing them with tools of communication and persuasion that will equip them for life.

Grades: 10-12 Format: Hardback textbook, Student Workbook, and video course. Answer Key and Exam Pack available.

CALCULUS FOR EVERYONE

Calculus for Everyone  teaches Calculus. But it also represents one of the first tangible steps in recent years at reunifying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) with the liberal arts. The goal is to produce a generation of classically educated students who understand the history of math, and will be better equipped to solve problems like our current crisis in Physics. 

Grades: 10-12 + College (Algebra 1 pre-req) Format: Hardback textbook (integrated exercises) and video course. Exercise Solutions available.

GRAMMAR OF POETRY

The Grammar of Poetry is a video course and textbook that teaches the mechanics of poetry by using the classical approach of imitation, teaching students to analyze not only poetry, but words and language in general. 

Grades: 6-9+ Format: Student Workbook (integrated exercises) and video course. Teacher’s Edition available.

INTRODUCTORY AND INTERMEDIATE LOGIC

Logic is the art of reasoning well. In this classic logic curriculum, the authors lay the proper foundation for reasoning from the truth of God, then train students in the crucial skills of defining terms, determining the truth of statements, discerning and constructing valid arguments, identifying informal fallacies, and more. By providing students with fundamental standards for rational thought, logic helps them excel in every subject they study.

Grades: 7-9+ Format: Student Workbook (integrated exercises) and video course. Teacher’s Edition and Exam Pack available.

DAVE RAYMOND’S HISTORY

Veteran history teacher Dave Raymond gives a comprehensive history of the United States by applying a Christian worldview to the characters, events, theology, literature, art, and religious beliefs of the nation. It is an engaging class for Middle School and High School students.

Grades: 7-12+ Format: Video course and Readers. Teacher’s Edition available.

CLASSROOM ART + SWAG

Digressio Magazine

Digressio Magazine, Newspaper, and Podcast

The digressio family of publications include the yearly  Digressio Magazine , the  Digressio Podcast , and new this year, the  Digressio Express , a quarterly newspaper. The mission of Roman Roads Press is to provide Christian families with tools to “Inherit the Humanities.” May these publications be a delightful help to you and your family as you pursue this goal.

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WEATHER ALERT

A heat advisory and a special weather statement in effect for 4 regions in the area

Florida elementary school principal faces charges for allegedly beating special needs student, warning: video may be difficult to watch.

Kristi Krueger , Anchor/Health Reporter

OCALA, Fla. – A Central Florida school administrator is facing charges after deputies said he was caught on camera beating a student.

Marion County Sheriff’s deputies said Dontay Prophet, 33, was arrested after he was caught on camera last Friday striking the child several times with a charging cable and placing him in a chokehold. They said the abuse went on for about 40 minutes.

Deputies said at one point when the child attempted to escape and hide under a table, he twisted his ankle.

Prophet, the principal of the Ocala elementary school, said the altercation was an attempt to prevent the child from harming himself.

Authorities said the evidence contradicted those claims and it was not the first time Prophet has been accused of assaulting a child.

In 2019 the then camp-counselor was arrested after allegedly inviting a boy to his home, where the boy claimed he inappropriately touched him.

The police report states Prophet told the victim he had a similar encounter with one other student.

Those charges were ultimately dropped.

The Marion County Sheriff’s office said it is unclear if the school was aware of the prior incidents.

Prophet is being held without bond on charges of aggravated child abuse and false imprisonment of a child under the age of 13.

He has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.

Copyright 2024 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.

About the Author

Kristi krueger.

Kristi Krueger has built a solid reputation as an award-winning medical reporter and effervescent anchor. She joined Local 10 in August 1993. After many years co-anchoring the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m., Kristi now co-anchors the noon newscasts, giving her more time in the evening with her family.

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Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar-Drake beef find place in high school English syllabi across US as students 'love the drama'

L OS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: High school English syllabus in the US is evolving with a little help from the musical artists of this generation, including Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar.

A new generation of middle and high school students are learning to appreciate traditional poetry and literature, thanks to the creations of contemporary artists.

Of late, several teachers throughout America are using Swift's ‘The Tortured Poets Department' and Lamar's much-talked-about rap battle with Drake to understand poetry, per HuffPost.

Taylor Swift gaining prominence in English syllabus

English teachers across the country are cashing in on the popularity of Swift's ‘TTPD' to inculcate an appreciation for poetry in their students.

Kim Randolph, a seventh-grade honors English teacher in Denton, Texas and a hardcore Swiftie herself, used the album to introduce her students to the works of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and songwriter-poet Patti Smith.

Randolph shared, per HuffPost, "The boys immediately latched on to ‘Fortnight,' but only because they were thinking of Fortnite the game," before adding, "But that led us into a fun conversation about the word ‘fortnight' and where they might encounter it in the real world."

Another teacher from Marshalltown, Iowa, Katherine Mummert went ahead of time and introduced Swift in her course two years ago.

Mummert, an ELA teacher for grades nine through 12 at an alternative high school, introduced the course titled "Taylor Swift and 19th Century Literature: A Comparison of Themes."

For the course, the students compare Swift's vast musical canon with the poetry of Victorian poets like Robert Browning.

Mummert shared, "We watch her live performances and music videos and read through the lyrics line by line," before explaining, "Once we have a grasp on what Swift's intended message is, we look at a piece of literature from the 19th century that discusses the same thematic topics."

She shared that students' favorite is ‘No Body. No Crime', where they love to compare the song with ‘Porphyria's Lover'.

Kendrick Lamar gets a special mention

Besides Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Drake's beef has also garnered unprecedented attention from the young students.

Randolph, for example, not only uses Swift's album to teach the students literary (and interesting) examples of similes and metaphors, but also makes good use of the Lamar-Drake rap battle as an example of literary battles.

Randolph shared, "Middle schoolers love drama, so this is right up their alley."

Recently, in a widely circulated TikTok, a high school English teacher, who goes by the name @stillateacher, opened up about the effects of the feud among the students and shared the students are convinced of Lamar's win .

The teacher shared, "They were ready to throw down for Kendrick," before adding, "I have students who hate reading who are doing the most meticulous close reading of these lyrics that I have ever seen. They're finding subtle quadruple-entendres [in Lamar's work] and explaining them eloquently to their peers."