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=Edward Franklin Albee by Tyler Sotak=

Edward Albee was born on March 12, 1928 in Washington DC. He was adopted by a wealthy family involved in theater at a young age. As a child and young adult he attended the Hotchkiss private school and also had private tutors. He also attended Trinity College in Connecticut for one year. Growing up, Albee had lots of odd jobs ranging from short order cook to copy boy to clerk before he started as a writer. Albee’s first writings were of the poetry and fiction genres, and it was not until he met Thorton Wilder that he started writing plays. His first play, “The Zoo Story,” was published in 1959 and its major theme was loneliness. The main character falls into a state of desperation as a result of his extreme loneliness. He published his play “The American Dream” in 1960 and it concentrated on the effects of conformity. The majority of Albee’s plays center around a common theme of family relationships. His characters are usually of the middle-aged bourgeoisie class. He draws upon his personal experiences for inspiration in his writing. The vision that Albee had for his writing was to create his own individual style. Albee was a master of language and was a leading figure in the “theater of the Absurd” drama movement. Albee’s unique writing style has an equally unique purpose. The goal that Albee is trying to accomplish is to shed a light on the reality of family situations. His language is so pure and real, “the text comes at us naked, so to speak – that is as pure sound.”(Gassner), that it helps you to understand the circumstance as it would actually occur in a real life situation. Albee attempted to change the vision of literature with his writing. He was an inspirational influence to many other writers in encouraging them to create their own style and not fall in with conformity. The aim of Edward Albee’s literature is characterized by the taking of chances in aspirations to develop a work that is all your own. When the first of Edward Albee’s plays was being published the social climate of the United States was in a state of reform. The late 1950’s and early 1960’s was a time marked by controversy in the Civil Rights movement as well as in welfare reform for the poor through the establishment of Medicaid and the continuation of Medicare. Albee’s writing is also reform based in a sense. His writing is unlike any other previous authors’ styles and through writing about topics of the unfavorable parts of family relationships he hoped to turn people off from those things and turn them on to the better aspects of family life. His contribution to America or humanity through his literature can be looked at in two ways. The first is the way he influenced other writers through his language and absurd humor. The second is the influence that his writing has on his readers. The impact that his writing has had on his readers has taken on a teaching manner about family life.

Annotated Bibliography Gassner, John. “Edward Albee.” __Best American Plays__**.** New York: Crown Publishers Inc., July 1977. 143-148. The book __Best American Plays__ is organized in an essay format that includes information about Edward Albee’s background and important facts about his life. It then goes into a summary and criticism of his play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and is followed by the play itself. It also includes information in a similar format of other famous playwrights and their works. I am using this source to provide information on my trading card about Albee’s works and a quote from one of his play. It will also help me in writing about his vision and inspiration for his works. The content given was very specific about the individual play stated above but was a little vague on specific information about his life. Students interested in reading his work and analyzing its content would benefit from using this source. Kerjan, Lilian. "Edward Albee." //DISCovering Authors//. Online ed. Detroit : Gale, 2003. //Student// //Resource Center// //- Gold//. Gale. Fuquay Varina High School/WCPS/. 22 May. 2008 <http://find.galegroup.com/srcx This article by Lilian Kerjan is an essay describing commonalities between Edward Albee’s plays and their themes. It explains Albee’s unique style and how he integrates his ideas into his works. The tone that Albee uses in his plays is described in this piece. I plan to use the information attained from this source to write about what makes Albee’s works unique and innovative. The level of content this article contains is adequate, but limited in the amount of information given. Students who are unsure about the ideology and inspiration behind Albee’s writing will benefit from looking at this source. The Diagram Group. “Edward Albee.” __Literary Lifelines.__ Volume 1. Danbury, Connecticut: Grolier Educational,1998. 44-45. The book __Literary Lifelines__ Volume 1 is organized in an easy to read format with pictures and diagrams. Each author in the book is described in two pages and basic information is given about his or her achievements and important historical events of the time are listed. I used this book to help with my trading card section of this project. It provided me with information about the three Pulitzer Prizes he won and other important information. The level of information in this work was very basic and easy to comprehend but still very helpful. I would recommend this book to other students who are looking for quick, fun facts about an author to get them started on their project or to polish off some last detail that they may not have been able to find. Wasserman, Julian N. "The Idea of Language in the Plays of Edward Albee." __Bloom's__ __Modern Critical Views__ 2001. Literary Reference Center. . The idea of this article is to explain the source of Albee’s motivation for characteristics of the characters in his plays and the emphasis that he provides on language. This article is a literary criticism that is organized in essay format. I intend to use this source to explain Albee’s vision for his writing and the purposes his characters serve. It is going to help me with the Wiki entry I am writing. The content in this article is very specific and in depth and will require the reader to analyze the information carefully. Other students looking for information on Edward Albee would benefit from reading this