Fences is a 1985 play by the American playwright August Wilson. Set in the 1950s, it is the sixth in Wilson's ten-part "Pittsburgh Cycle".
Fences Reading & Writing Workshop (Literary Focus)
August Wilson’s Fences (1985) is one of the most powerful modern dramas for exploring literary elements and dramatic techniques, including symbolism, motif, characterization, dialogue, irony, conflict, and theme.
Introduction / Setup
August Wilson’s Fences tells the story of Troy Maxson, a former Negro League baseball player turned garbage collector in 1950s Pittsburgh. Through his relationships with his family, Wilson examines themes of race, pride, generational conflict, responsibility, and the limits of the American Dream. Students will explore how Wilson uses literary and dramatic elements — such as symbolism, motif, irony, dialogue, conflict, and characterization — to shape meaning.
General Instructions:
Students will analyze how August Wilson crafts Fences using dramatic and literary elements to explore family, race, and the struggle for self-definition. Through writing and discussion, students will identify and interpret symbolism, motifs, irony, conflict, dialogue, and theme, and create original responses inspired by Wilson’s language and structure.
Session-by-Session Plan
Session 1: Characterization, Dialogue, and Realism (Act I, Scene 1)
Students should track the following literary and dramatic elements throughout the play:
August Wilson’s Fences (1985) is one of the most powerful modern dramas for exploring literary elements and dramatic techniques, including symbolism, motif, characterization, dialogue, irony, conflict, and theme.
Introduction / Setup
August Wilson’s Fences tells the story of Troy Maxson, a former Negro League baseball player turned garbage collector in 1950s Pittsburgh. Through his relationships with his family, Wilson examines themes of race, pride, generational conflict, responsibility, and the limits of the American Dream. Students will explore how Wilson uses literary and dramatic elements — such as symbolism, motif, irony, dialogue, conflict, and characterization — to shape meaning.
General Instructions:
- Read the play in four sections:
- Act I, Scene 1
- Act I, Scenes 2–4
- Act II, Scenes 1–3
- Act II, Scenes 4–5 (ending and eulogy)
- Act I, Scene 1
- Each group summarizes their section, identifies key literary or dramatic techniques, and shares examples.
- Students use a Literary Thinking Guide to track symbols, motifs, characterization, irony, and dialogue.
- After each reading, complete a short analytical or creative writing task focusing on one literary term.
Students will analyze how August Wilson crafts Fences using dramatic and literary elements to explore family, race, and the struggle for self-definition. Through writing and discussion, students will identify and interpret symbolism, motifs, irony, conflict, dialogue, and theme, and create original responses inspired by Wilson’s language and structure.
Session-by-Session Plan
Session 1: Characterization, Dialogue, and Realism (Act I, Scene 1)
- Objective: Examine how Wilson introduces Troy and Rose through dialogue and conflict.
- Key Terms: Characterization, dialogue, realism, exposition, tone.
- Reading Focus: Act I, Scene 1 (Troy’s banter with Bono, complaints about work, baseball imagery).
- Writing Prompt: Write a short scene (1 page) between two characters using only dialogue to reveal character and tension. Then identify one literary element you used (tone, diction, irony).
- Objective: Analyze how Wilson develops symbols (the fence, baseball) and motifs of protection and limitation.
- Key Terms: Symbolism, motif, irony, foreshadowing.
- Reading Focus: Act I, Scenes 2–4 (Rose’s “fence” line, Troy’s affair revealed, family tensions).
- Writing Prompt: Write a two-paragraph analysis of the fence as a symbol. How does its meaning shift between characters? Then, design your own symbolic “fence” — something that represents either protection or confinement in modern life.
- Objective: Explore how internal and external conflicts drive the story’s emotional intensity.
- Key Terms: Conflict (internal/external), irony, climax, characterization.
- Reading Focus: Act II, Scenes 1–3 (Cory and Troy’s confrontation, Alberta’s death, family strain).
- Writing Prompt: Write a character reflection (in first person) from either Cory or Rose’s perspective. Identify at least two literary elements (e.g., conflict, irony, theme) that appear in your writing.
- Objective: Connect the play’s resolution to its central themes of legacy, reconciliation, and endurance.
- Key Terms: Theme, resolution, symbolism, motif, epiphany.
- Reading Focus: Act II, Scenes 4–5 (Gabriel’s trumpet, Cory’s decision, Rose’s strength).
- Writing Prompt: Write a thematic essay (2–3 paragraphs) analyzing how Wilson uses symbolism and dialogue to resolve the play’s central conflicts. Include at least three literary terms (e.g., motif, irony, theme)
Students should track the following literary and dramatic elements throughout the play:
- Characterization & Dialogue — how Wilson builds realism through speech patterns and rhythm.
- Symbols — the fence, baseball, Gabriel’s trumpet, the garden, the devil stories.
- Motifs — responsibility, race and opportunity, father-son conflict, betrayal, legacy.
- Irony — Troy’s dreams vs. reality; the fence as both divider and connector.
- Themes — family, pride, generational change, deferred dreams, redemption.
- Conflict — internal (Troy’s pride, guilt) and external (Troy vs. Cory, Troy vs. society).
- Structure & Style — realism, cyclical structure, the mix of tragedy and domestic drama.