Rick Najera Plays and Assignments

Done by: Chantel Raymond and Sean Tucker

Rick Najera – Captured by Feministas AND You Know How to Whistle, Don’t You?


1) What genre is each play? Explain why.

· Captured by Feministas = is considered Tragicomedy. It combines a mixture of comedic lines and tragedy because they ultimately murdered the main character.

· You Know How to Whistle, Don’t You? = is considered Melodrama because the play did not involve any tragedies nor was it very comedic. This genre of melodrama contained a very serious situation between two lovers. We were able to identify the protagonist and the antagonist and it contained a sense of moral judgment bases on the situation.

2) How does his choice of diction affect your reading of the plays? Be specific in your response. Use examples as support.

His choice of diction affected our reading by misleading us and not being clear as to what was directly going on between the characters. When we read the play we both got two different meanings or occurrences from the plays. For example in the play, “You Know How To Whistle, Don't You?”, if the reader did not pay attention to the word choices used you would get an image of a couple discussing sex, but then we realized it was a prostitute attempting to give herself to a man, instead of actually selling herself.

3) What is the theme for each play? Provide reasons to support your answer.

The theme for the play “Captured by Feministas”, expressed the breaking down of male dominance and the realization of the female importance in a males life. This was evident because Alejandro started off as being dominant and macho and the feministas had completely broke him down and realize the importance of women in his life.

The theme for the play “You Know How to Whistle, Don’t You?”, is basically survival, doing what you have to do to survive. This was made clear because of her persistence to sell herself for money and the want to escape harsh environment in Cuba.

4) Define the antagonist and protagonist in each play. Explain how you know.
The antagonist in “Captured by Feministas” were actually the feministas themselves because of them capturing Alejandro, doing harm to him and ultimately killing him which caused the problem. The protagonist was Alejandro, because he was basically defenseless begging for his life.

The antagonist in “You Know How to Whistle, Don’t You?”, was the female prostitute because she was constantly trying to throw herself on this man that did not want anything to do with her and she was being very forceful and leaving him without an option. and the Man the in play was the protagonist due the fact that he did not want to get involved with her due the many issue that may follow.

5) What is your opinion of each play?

My opinion of they play that they were both very opionated. they were very easy to understanding the meaning behing the story although at certain points in the play it tended to be very misleading. Rick Najeri has a way about writing that wants you to know the outcome of the story and leave you wanting a little more at the end.